Grace Over Generations
Eighty years ago, Bill and Matilda Korver prayed their son would dedicate himself to ministry. Not until the day in 1955 that Harold ’48, ’50 was ordained would they tell this story.
Forty years ago, Harold decided the last place he’d pastor was Emmanuel Reformed in Paramount, Calif., “another dying Dutch church.” He refused to leave his position as director of Camp Manitoqua near Chicago until, he says, he had a mystical experience: “I had disequilibrium for two days unless I faced west.” He accepted the call.
Twenty years ago, Harold and his son Kevin sat in his Emmanuel office and asked the Lord for wisdom on how to reach Paramount, which had been rated one of the nation’s 50 worst cities. While they prayed, city officials knocked on the door and asked if the church would partner with them. Later, the church’s clean-up efforts in Paramount would be honored by President George H.W. Bush as one of his “thousand points of light.”
Another of Harold’s sons, Ken, now pastors Emmanuel, which has begun a 40-year initiative helping to rebuild the neighboring city of Compton.
At 80, Harold’s perspective spans decades, yet his analysis remains brief. When asked once to write a book about his life, he claimed he needed only a sentence: “Grace stacked on grace.”
Wipeout
“You can’t spell ‘danger’ without ‘Dan.’”
With quips like that, Dan Van Beek ’92 earned his 15 minutes of fame.
Wearing a Speedo over tights and a T-shirt proclaiming “Danger Dan—Safety Third,” the Chino, Calif., resident captured enough attention at his audition for ABC’s Wipeout that he was selected to compete on-air.
Van Beek, who owns a T-shirt screen printing and embroidery business, trained for three months to face the Snowplow Sweeper, Spinning Ski Lift and Big Balls. He worked out with a trainer, doing a lot of squats, jumping and instability training to prepare himself for the obstacle course. But he didn’t know about the Vaseline.
“Everything’s pretty slick on the course—you have no footing or leverage,” he says. “They want you to wipe out.”
Van Beek obliged—even needing some off-screen attention from EMTs after he took a snowball to the nose—but nearly made it to the final round of three.
He didn’t win the $50,000 prize, but Van Beek said he had a blast. And the experience led to other opportunities with fellow Wipeout contestants, including an appearance on the Fox News Channel helicopter.
Now a reality show junkie, Van Beek has his sights set on The Amazing Race. He just hopes the route isn’t greased with Vaseline.
Family Finances
When Kelly (Bauder ’02) Calton mentions family, she might be referring to relatives in Sioux Center, Iowa, whose livelihood revolves around the farming industry. Or she could be talking about one of her clients—the daughter of a very successful Colorado businessman.
Calton, a CPA who earned an MBA in the Netherlands, began Confluence Family Office in 2008 to help clients manage wealth. With her small town background—what she calls “a really good simple life”—balanced against her city life in Denver, Calton is uniquely positioned to examine how, why and where money is spent.
“Many people, regardless of income, don’t budget,” says Calton. “They spend and don’t know what they’re spending. And the review process doesn’t happen. People put an insurance policy or estate plan in place and don’t look at it again.”
She and husband Bryan see their own money as belonging to the family of God—to their church and some charities.
As for assets not easily liquidated, Calton’s time and skills are happily distributed, turning those she serves into something more than just customers.
“At the end of the day,” says Calton, “I love what I do because I really do care about people and want them to have the best life they can have.”
Walking for Life
After walking across Northwestern’s commencement stage last May to receive her diploma, Kate Neisen kept walking. She spent the summer trekking from Seattle to Washington, D.C., as one of 40 participants in the Crossroads Pro-Life Walk, spreading the message that every life is sacred.
Team members—who wore T-shirts emblazoned with PRO LIFE on the front and the Crossroads motto, “Taking Steps to Save Lives,” on the back—walked 15 to 18 miles per day over the course of three months.
Neisen’s team consisted of 11 walkers from across the country ranging in age from 18 to 26. They were split into shifts and took to the streets day and night, walking along everything from interstates to side roads.
On the weekends, the team spoke at Catholic parishes, requesting prayer and raising funds. They also paused in front of abortion clinics, praying and offering sidewalk counseling.
“Thousands of people got our message, and by the end of the summer you could feel that community of prayer,” says Neisen, who now lives and works in St. Paul, Minn. “Crossroads was just the first step for me in saving lives. It’s a launch pad, an invitation to embrace the pro-life mission as a way of life.”
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