Inspire, Winter 2007

6Winter 2007 Feature : Pete Slusher ’ 78 Renowned British author J. R. R. Tolkien described leaving one’s home as “a dangerous business … you step into the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to.” When Pete Slusher ’78 stepped into the road, he didn’t realize his first step out of his parents’ door and his first step onto the Cedarville campus would propel him on a journey of ministry and impact. Pete was brought up in a godly home on the southwestern shores of Lake Erie, and some of his earliest memories of his family involved Christian ministry. “My father was a deacon and a teacher, and I remember my parents being involved in Awana, Sunday school, and women’s ministries,” Pete said. “We attended Abbe Road Baptist Church, and that church was, in fact, the most significant part of our lives.” But like many teens raised in godly homes, Pete struggled with his Christian identity. “When it became time for me to attend college, my desires were on much more earthly issues concerning college attendance,” Pete said. “I really sought to get away from the vitality of my parents’ faith.” Pete’s parents, sensing his spiritual vulnerability, gave Pete a choice of 10 schools, all evangelical, and trusted God to work in Pete’s life. His family encouraged him to consider a small Christian school in southwestern Ohio where the family’s roots ran deep. “My cousin David Slusher [’76] was already attending [Cedarville] and playing on the golf team,” Pete said. “To be frank, I did not want the things of Christ … the opportunity to join the golf team was a big influence.” On the run from his family’s faith, he traveled three hours across the state to Cedarville, Ohio, for the fall semester of 1974. He may not have been looking for Christ when he decided to attend Cedarville, but the Lord had big plans for this struggling young man. Almost immediately upon Pete’s arrival, God put faithful people into his life to help prepare him for the ministry. “The consistency of Christ in the men of Cedarville, especially Dr. Bob Gromacki and Jim Greer, was an encouragement,” Pete recalled. “My Cedarville experience was shaped by the men who influenced me.” One such man was Dick Walker ’74, currently dean for community and family programs at Cedarville whose witness and impact helped shape Pete. “Dick Walker entered my life when I was a freshman,” Pete said. “What he saw and why he invested in me is something for which I am eternally grateful. He simply took time to continue to share his life with me.” “Campus pastor Harold Green was continually kind to me,” Pete said. “The willingness to live out a passion for the Lord from men like Pastor Green, track coach Elvin King [’64], basketball coach Don Callan, and golf coach Al Monroe positively affected me.” The witness Pete was experiencing was not relegated solely to the classroom and the pulpit, as the campus nurse and her family taught Pete a lesson about living a love for Christ. “Betty Bertschinger [’68] and her family, the Whites, opened their home for all the campus kids,” Pete remembers. “The entire family took kids in and lived out a love of Christ that few families do.” A Life Changed, Changing Lives by Devin T. Robinson ’03 A youth mission trip to Portugal in 1987, led by Pete ’78 and Kathy Kearbey Slusher ’79, included three future Cedarville alumni: Chad ’96 and Becky Seguin Eder ’94 and Mary Beth Plunkitt ’91. Evandro Batista ’77 also participated.