Leadership conference to feature author and humanitarian

Chris Heuertz, author and executive director of Word Made Flesh, will be the keynote speaker at Northwestern College’s 21st annual College Leadership Conference on April 1 and 2. Heuertz will give two addresses, and two workshop sessions will be offered.

“The theme this year is Following Faithfully, Leading Justly,” says Marlon Haverdink, Northwestern’s director of service learning. “Following faithfully involves a continual submission to Christ and as we do this, Christ will begin to lead us. As Christ leads, we inevitably will begin to bear witness to the kingdom of God—a reality that is marked by justice and shalom.”

Heuertz will flesh out the conference theme by discussing what the intersection of faith and leadership have looked like in his own journey to over 70 countries working with the most vulnerable of the world’s poor. “Weaved throughout his talks will be many stories of hope and inspiration,” says Haverdink.

Since 1996, Heuertz has served as the international executive director of Word Made Flesh, an Omaha-based nonprofit organization serving impoverished communities in Asia, Latin America, Europe and Africa. Its mission is to reconcile the church with the poor.

In addition to speaking at conferences such as Urban Youth Works Institute, Passion and Urbana, Heuertz also writes for Christianity Today. He is the author of Simple Spirituality: Learning to See God in a Broken World, published by InterVarsity Press in 2008, and he co-wrote a book with Christine Pohl, Friendship at the Margins: Discovering Mutuality in Service and Mission, published by InterVarsity last year.

Heuertz is an ordained minister through the Association of Evangelical Churches and Ministries and serves as an adjunct professor at Lakeview Seminary in Chennai, India. He and his wife, Phileena, were awarded Asbury College’s Distinguished Young Alumni Award in 2005.

Opening worship will begin at 7 p.m. on Friday, April 1, at American Reformed Church, 407 Albany Ave. SE in Orange City. Heuertz’ first address will begin at 7:15, followed by an optional question-and-answer session with the speaker at 8. Attendees are invited to Hoopla, a Northwestern talent show that will take place at 9 in Christ Chapel.

Saturday’s activities will include another keynote address by Heuertz at 10 a.m. in Northwestern’s Christ Chapel. Two workshop sessions, at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., will be led by pastors, community leaders, professors and Northwestern staff members in Van Peursem Hall. The conference will conclude around 2 p.m.

The conference is open to the public. For more information, contact Marlon Haverdink at 712-707-7259 or marlon@nwciowa.edu.