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Young soccer players honed their skills under the professional guidance of the Chicago Fire Soccer Club on the campus of Trinity July 8-13.
During the 5-day intensive training, known as the National Talent Center (NTC), 57 advanced soccer players, ages 10-18, received world-class instruction in all areas of the game under the supervision of Chicago Fire staff and guest coaches from Fire 1st Team and Academy.
Trinity and the Chicago Fire Soccer Club have partnered in recent years on the Faith and Family Event and programs that help Trinity students purchase discounted tickets to Chicago Fire soccer games, said Pete Hamstra, dean of admissions. “When the idea was proposed to partner with the club to put on a soccer camp, we started working to make it a reality.”
“Trinity has a wonderful facility, and it was truly a pleasure working with Sam Mahtani, marketing and media associate and assistant women’s soccer coach, and other Trinity staff members who made our coaches and players feel completely at home on this beautiful campus,” said Chris Andrew, Chicago Fire camps and training coordinator. “We hope to expand the program in future summers and look forward to continuing to partner with Trinity.”
Said Hamstra, “I am hoping some of these great young soccer players will be playing for the Trolls someday.”
This year’s Alumna of the Year Award recognized Louella DeVries ’93, president and Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor at Olive Branch Counseling Associates in Oak Forest, Illinois.
Congratulations, also, to the honorary alumni award recipients. They include:
- Keith and Bev Bruxvoort, friends of the College
- Tim Timmons, director of Trinity’s physical plant
- Mark Ward, former associate provost and professor of business
Louella DeVries ’93
Louella holds a master’s degree in marriage and family therapy from the Adler School of Professional Psychology. At Olive Branch, she provides psychotherapy and counseling to clients as well as clinical supervision for other therapists. Louella is married to fellow alum Dr. Michael DeVries ’74, professor of psychology at Trinity, and serves the children and women of Huaycan, Peru, through the Light and Leadership Initiative, an organization started by their daughter Lara ’08.
Louella started at Trinity in 1972 as an art studio major, married Michael in 1973, then left to enter the workforce while Michael pursued graduate studies. In 1977, Michael was asked to join the Trinity faculty.
When she first visited Trinity, she said she never dreamed of psychology as a career, but during her time as a stay-at-home mom, Louella started to feel a call to a career outside of the home and to a career in psychology—a call she tried “very hard to ignore.”
“Ignoring that call was simply not in the plan for me. I knew I was supposed to become a psychotherapist in order to answer that call,” said Louella. So, she returned to Trinity in 1992 as a wife and a mother of four very active children. “People often ask how I changed from art to psychology. I simply changed the medium that I work in; it’s still a creative process.”
As a student, she was deeply influenced by a number of professors, including her husband Michael. “Michael had the ability to put it all together so it made sense. Theories of Personality was a class that set the stage for my graduate school work and laid a foundation for my practice of clinical psychology,” said Louella. “I have been blessed to have Michael’s academic influence as well as his influence in my personal life.”
Since her graduation, her involvement with Trinity has been ongoing; she has served as an adjunct professor, clinical supervisor at the Cooper Counseling Center, Interim leader, and keynote speaker at the annual alumni conference. She also oversees the internship program through which Trinity students have served at Olive Branch for over 10 years.
Of her role as an alumna, Louella said, “We are all representatives of our school, and that is a pretty heavy responsibility. When I get the opportunity to speak up about Trinity, I do so. I received a great education there and so did my children.”
The DeVries have four grown children: Julia, Anna ’ex 03, Jonathan ex ’06, and Lara ’08. They are members of Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago.
Keith and Bev Bruxvoort
Keith Bruxvoort is the vice president of finance for grocery chain Strack & Van Til, LLC, and is a member of Trinity’s board of trustees. He serves as the board president of Habitat for Humanity of Northwest Indiana and has been involved in Rotary of Highland, the water board of Highland, and the Elim Christian School board.
Bev Bruxvoort has been a Meals on Wheels volunteer for several years and volunteers at the ETC resale shop for Highland Christian School. She also runs the nursery ministry at the Coffee Break program at First CRC of Highland where she and Keith are members.
The Bruxvoorts’ initial connection to Trinity was established when daughter Kara ’03 enrolled as a freshman. “It’s amazing to see all of the changes that have happened since we first brought Kara to campus,” said Keith. “The College has grown, and not just the facilities. The overall development of the school has been amazing, and it has stayed true to its values; that’s important.”
Son Ryan ’06 liked Trinity’s friendly atmosphere and participated in track and field and cross country. The Bruxvoorts’ youngest daughter Erica lives in Mishawauka, Indiana, with her husband and teaches in the public school system.
Kara and Ryan’s involvement in sports was a spring board for Keith and Bev’s involvement in the College; Kara’s success on the basketball court earned her a spot in Trinity’s Hall of Fame in 2009. The Bruxvoorts have attended myriad events over the years, including many basketball games and track meets, as well as Trinity Business Network events, golf outings, and Jubilation! fundraisers.
Their connection has remained strong, and the Bruxvoorts believe it is important to continue their support of Trinity. “We look at where the college is going and its goals and we want to help,” said Keith. “We see how our kids benefited. Even though they didn’t get to use the ArCC or the new gymnasium, the next generation of students can. When you give, it is almost as if you’re giving exponentially because of all the lives that each Trinity student will touch.”
Tim Timmons is director of Trinity’s physical plant and has served the College for 17 years. Before coming to Trinity, Tim worked for 12 years at a steel plant where he was promoted to general foreman. He later returned to school for training in the HVAC program at Moraine Valley Community College and became a tradesman. His first role in maintenance at Trinity focused on HVAC work, but he was soon promoted to assistant director of maintenance. He also served as interim director before accepting the position he has now held for seven years.
With his first job at Texaco at the age of 12, Tim has always possessed a strong work ethic that he said fits in with the hard-working environment on campus. He greatly appreciates a work environment where co-workers share his faith.
“[Trinity] has meant many things to me over the years, both exciting and challenging,” he said. “It’s a place where I continue to learn and grow. It is also great to be surrounded by people who love the Lord and really care about each other.”
Tim has the opportunity to work year around with student workers on the maintenance crew and has come to know many faculty and staff members over the years. Sharing in their lives—witnessing everything from marriages to professions of faith—is one of his favorite things about Trinity.
“I don’t just look at the task but at the whole person,” he said. “We have to help every single person on this campus, whether it’s a student, staff member, or guest, we are involved in everyone’s life here.
I get to serve and help others every day in this job and want to be a trusted sounding board who cares for people.”
Tim and his wife Lisa have been married for 28 years and have been blessed with son Timothy, age 10.
Mark Ward, former associate provost and professor of business, is the vice president for academic affairs at the University of Dubuque. Mark and his wife, Dr. Annalee Ward, former chair of the communication arts department, served the College for over 25 years.
Mark and Annalee were living in Oak Park, Illinois, before coming to Trinity, Mark was employed in the business sector and Annalee working in Chicago and teaching evening classes at DePaul. Hearing of an opening for a business professor at Trinity, Mark applied and joined the faculty in 1984.
He began as instructor of business, teaching ethics, management, and economics. Becoming deeply immersed in the academic community, Mark began developing the First Year Experience for new students around 2000 and became director of First Year Forum. In 2004, he accepted a new role as associate provost.
Mark’s contributions to the College have endured as has Trinity’s impact on him. He said that although he received his education from the three institutions he attended, a greater education came from Trinity. “It’s where I learned how to think Christianly; it was a very forming experience.”
That experience extended to the Ward’s family, as well. The Ward’s children grew up on Trinity’s campus and daughter Emily graduated from the College in 2009. Ward said he is “very touched” by the honor, noting that although he is not involved on a day-to-day basis with the College, Trinity was—and still is—a part of his family’s identity “in a way no other place can be.”
Mark said he misses the community at Trinity. “An ethos of Trinity is that people know how to be Christ to each other. There are a lot of caring people in the world, but those at Trinity know how to do it well,” he said. “Trinity really does provide a holistic education to students in a way that most institutions can’t.”
Trinity Christian College has announced the launch of its new Graduate Studies programs, scheduled to begin in fall 2012. Trinity’s Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology and Master of Arts in Special Education will be offered at the College’s main campus in Palos Heights.
“Our presence in the Chicago metropolitan area, coupled with the applied nature of both of these programs, answers the growing need for graduate study from a Christian perspective in the helping professions,” said President Steven Timmermans, Ph.D.
Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology 
Those seeking an advanced degree in psychology can earn their M.A. in Counseling Psychology through either a two-year or three-year program option. Courses are blended with online instruction and evening face-to-face classes. Graduates of the program will meet the educational requirements for Licensed Professional Counselors (LPCs) in the state of Illinois.
“I am grateful to our Lord Jesus Christ that Trinity is able to offer a quality graduate program in Counseling Psychology based on a Christian worldview and designed to educate and train professional counselors in the latest counseling methods and scientific research,” said Dr. Michael DeVries, director of the Counseling Psychology Graduate Studies Program.
Master of Arts in Special Education
Certified regular education teachers looking to add expertise and credentials necessary for teaching a wide range of students—from those with learning disabilities to those with severe multiple impairments—can join the M.A. in Special Education program. This program is designed for State of Illinois Learning Behavior Specialist 1 (LBS1) certification. Students earn their master’s in 1½ years by means of online and face-to-face evening classes. Other options are available for obtaining an LBS1 endorsement or certification without the master’s degree.
“We are excited that we will be offering a Christ-centered program,” said Dr. Patti Powell, director of the Special Education Graduate Studies Program. “Our proximity to Elim Christian School offers our program access to quality professionals in the field of special education as guest lecturers and the chance to interact with children with a variety of disabilities.”
For more information, visit graduatestudies.trnty.edu or call the Graduate Studies office at 708.239.3900.
Clutching pillows and approaching the Blueprints welcome table surrounded by family members, new Trinity students began their college adventure at the annual registration weekend on June 29 and 30.
Blueprints gives students an opportunity to connect with future roommates, classmates, and professors; register for classes; and get acquainted with their new community.
Friday highlights included the president’s barbecue dinner; evening worship; gaming and sports activities; and movies late into the night. Students began Saturday at the faculty-hosted breakfast, followed by one-on-one advising sessions.
The Professor Open House provided more time for questions and answers, and the Information Expo supplied students and parents with information about campus organizations, and local churches, banks, and businesses. Students then attended sessions about the First Year Experience and life at Trinity.
Clutching pillows and approaching the Blueprints welcome table surrounded by family members, new Trinity students began their college adventure at the annual registration weekend on June 29 and 30.
Blueprints gives students an opportunity to connect with future roommates, classmates, and professors; register for classes; and get acquainted with their new community.
Friday highlights included the president’s barbecue dinner; evening worship; gaming and sports activities; and movies late into the night. Students began Saturday at the faculty-hosted breakfast, followed by one-on-one advising sessions.
The Professor Open House provided more time for questions and answers, and the Information Expo supplied students and parents with information about campus organizations, and local churches, banks, and businesses. Students then attended sessions about the First Year Experience and life at Trinity.
Harold Boyd ’10 grew up in the Roseland community on the south side of Chicago and began attending Roseland Christian Reformed Church around the age of 10. As a child, he enjoyed the fellowship he found at Roseland Christian Ministries (RCM) and remembers the year Joe Huizenga ’01, pastor of Roseland CRC, was an intern from Trinity.
Today Boyd, who also served as an intern as a Trinity student, works with Huizenga at RCM to bring the message of salvation to the community, as well as support services such as interim housing for homeless mothers and their children. Boyd recently began a newly created position as youth director and pastor, roles he fills with several years of experience of working with children and a heart for being a missionary to his community.
After graduating from Trinity with a bachelor’s degree in theology, Boyd ventured to the inner city of Atlanta, Georgia, where he served with Mission Year, a year-long urban ministry program focused on Christian service and discipleship. One of six team members, Boyd lived in a trailer park in Atlanta’s East Point neighborhood, becoming part of the Hispanic community he served. As part of that community, he and his team worked through a local church to tutor and mentor children.
Soon after he began his work, Boyd was featured by CNN in a story about Mission Year and the low numbers of African Americans in the mission field. “We can be missionaries to our communities, and once we live a mission life there, then we can go out to other places,” he said.
Although Boyd’s time in Atlanta ended in July, he continues to work as a Mission Year alumni mentor with team members serving in Roseland for the next year.
At RCM, two of the youth offerings Boyd oversees include Transforming Minds, an after-school program, and Daughters of Zion, a program that helps girls develop their self esteem and reinforces moral messages. He hopes to develop a similar program for boys called Men of Honor but emphasized the great need for more long-term volunteers to serve the children.
The cornerstone of Erie Neighborhood House in Chicago’s West Town neighborhood reads: “To the glory of God and the service of his children.” Emily Hunter ’11, a sociology major while at Trinity, spent her last semester navigating the narrow hallways of the building that houses an organization that has served the immigrant populations of Chicago for over 100 years.
Hunter’s role during her Chicago Semester internship with the organization focused on immigration services, helping people with such tasks as applying for citizenship.
Working in the citizenship program also gave the Spanish minor an opportunity to hone her foreign language skills as she interacted with clients and facilitated some computer classes for women in the community and English-as-a-Second-Language classes for students.
Hunter’s interest in the area of immigration developed when she was a college freshman. “Many of my friends at Trinity were international students on student visas,” she said. “These relationships piqued my interest in people emigrating from other countries and the challenges they face.”
She continued to nurture her interests through her participation in Trinity’s student organizations, including the Social Justice Chapter, Service Committee, and Acting on Aids. Hunter also took advantage of one of the College’s other study abroad options, Semester in Spain, which immersed her in Spanish culture for an entire semester of experiential learning in Seville.
Chicago Semester expanded Hunter’s understanding of culture and immigration as it relates to life in the United States and specifically to the city of Chicago.
These experiences will aid Hunter as she travels to Spain this fall to work for the Ministry of Education as a cultural ambassador in the province of Extremadura. There she will serve as a stand-in representative of North American culture, educating students about the United States and assisting in the teaching of English at El Instituto de Educacion Secundaria Llerena, in Llerena, Badajoz.
In a world of dinosaur bones, mummies, and ancient artifacts from around the globe, media producer Emily Ward ’09 works with her team at Chicago’s Field Museum to produce informational videos for various exhibits. The museum attracts thousands of visitors viewing its collections of millions of specimens.
For a while during her Trinity education, Ward was “running two tracks.” She loved the study of mathematics but began working with video production and discovered not only a love, but a talent, for the medium during a Trinity Interim trip to Nicaragua.
The trip fed both her ever-present desire to travel and her interest in visual storytelling. Along with fellow Trinity student Jordan Huenink ’07, Ward created a video about the Nehemiah Center, a trans-denominational ministry and community development effort of Nicaraguan leaders and North American missionaries.
Ward later returned to the country and to the Center during Trinity’s Semester in Nicaragua. Students participating in the program are provided with an internship at the Nehemiah Center and live with host families, as they immerse themselves in a new culture. As part of her experiential learning, Ward produced yet another video, this time pursuing the answer to a question she had begun to ask herself each morning.
Being a socially conscious college student, Ward wondered where her coffee came from, besides the local grocery or corner coffeehouse. “I wanted to know whose hands were laboring for my morning cup of coffee,” she explains in her documentary Harvest: the journey to a small coffee farm, in which Ward explores first-hand the meaning of “fair trade” in the coffee industry.
An internship with Cultivate Studios, followed by her next semester program at Trinity, kept Ward a little closer to home as she took advantage of the College’s proximity to Chicago and enrolled in Chicago Semester.
The experience also opened the door for her to work at the Field Museum where Ward interned as part of her semester education. After graduation, she continued working as a summer intern at the museum and was eventually hired full time.
When Matthew Vander Laan ’97 was a senior at Trinity, he took an internship in Chicago at Edelman, a leading independent global public relations firm. “I was hired on full time before I even graduated, and that internship experience set the stage for the next 15 years of my life,” he said.
Today as Edelman’s executive vice president for corporate affairs, Vander Laan leads a team of 20 professionals who develop public relations campaigns for Fortune 500 clients.
Originally a pre-med major who excelled at science and planned to become a doctor, Vander Laan said that after taking courses in English, theology, philosophy, and art, he discovered that working with the “other side” of his brain was even more fun and interesting. “Professors Michael Vander Weele ’73, Dan Diephouse, Virginia La Grand, Annalee Ward, and others really helped me unlock my critical thinking and writing skills.”
Vander Laan eventually changed his major to English and worked as the editor of the Courier,Trinity’s student newspaper, and as a reporter for the Regional News in Palos Heights. These experiences proved beneficial to his future work. “It helped hone my sense for what people find interesting, engaging, and provocative,” he said. “Everyone wants to hear a good story, and I put that core idea to work for my clients every day.”
From the perspective of a professional working in Chicago, Vander Laan advises students to not only enjoy the cultural and entertainment options but to look at the city and its people through the eyes of what they’ve learned on Trinity’s campus.
“If we learn to see the world through the lens of God’s sovereignty, the centrality of Christ, and the hopelessness of sin, then we realize the city provides an intense display of both unimaginable beauty and utter brokenness. Such sharp juxtapositions force you to sharpen your observing, evaluating, and thinking skills in ways that more homogeneous surroundings just can’t,” said Vander Laan.
“Trinity, with its proximity to the city, is a great place to learn these habits of heart and mind.”
After graduation, Osvaldo Montelongo ’11, a business and Spanish major, secured a position at the company where he interned during his Chicago Semester experience.
Montelongo enrolled in the Chicago Semester program with this exact goal in mind. “I wanted to finish my last semester at Trinity with an internship that opened doors to potential jobs in the Chicagoland area.”
His internship at Sunstar Americas, Inc., a member of the Sunstar Group of companies that serves oral health care professionals and consumers in 90 countries, provided Montelongo with international business experience. He said the Chicago Semester program allowed him to apply his Trinity education in real world business situations.
“The internship had great benefits for me,” said Montelongo. “I was encouraged by management to grow into an international professional.” The company has continued to help the recent graduate reach that goal, offering Montelongo a position as an international product line manager.
“I loved working at Sunstar as an intern, so when they asked me if I would be interested in working for them again, I accepted the position,” he said. “I’ve always had a passion for working internationally, and this is the perfect fit for me. God is faithful!”
As a manager, Montelongo will be responsible for Sunstar’s oral care product lines throughout Latin America, including Mexico, Argentina, and Colombia, providing product branding, positioning, development of new products, and communicating effectively to customers in Latin America.
“I look forward to learning about my products and how they’ll perform in my Latin American markets,” he said. “And I’m excited about the international travel.”