Ginny Crawford Reczek:
CLASS OF 1963
Dekalb High SchoolClass of 1963
Dekalb, IL
Loyola University - Arts & SciencesClass of 1973
Chicago, IL
Monmouth CollegeClass of 1967
Monmouth, IL
Ginny's Story
Life
I live in Nairobi, Kenya, working with Youth for Christ at their crisis pregnancy centre. I have two children Holly married to Rick, two grand-kids Savannah and Travis, ages 15 and 13, and my son Tom married to Krissy, all who live in Castle Rock, CO.
After high school I attended Monmouth College (IL) for one year and then went to live with my dad in West Dundee, IL. where I attended Elgin Community College and received a two-year degree in Sociology. I moved to Chicago, worked for Montgomery Ward Corporate Office for several years, then finally went back to school and finished my undergraduate degree in Psychology at Loyola Univ. in '73. Married in 74, we moved to Colorado in '78 where I lived for 15 years. We divorced in '79 and I raised my children on my own although Gene was helpful with the children.
I accepted Christ as saviour in '85 and life began to move in a totally different direction. In '90 I went to work for Youth for Christ/USA headquarters in Denver in their World Outreach department. In '98 I packed up my house and moved to Kenya to work in the YFC crisis pregnancy centre and have been here ever since.
Violin is part of my life, starting in 4th grade. When we moved to DeKalb, Mom paid for private lessons with the NIU symphony director. Throughout junior high and high school I played in the NIU symphony, a bit scary but thrilling for a high school kid! I continued to play as a young adult and played several seasons with Civic Orchestra of Chicago (2nd violin section -- I wasn't able to handle 1st violin music!). I tried to learn to play by ear, but never was very good at it until I joined my church praise team in '86. Worship music became a fun part of my life. Coming to Kenya, I discovered I could even play different local styles of music. I joined a group called Sifa Voices (Sifa means praise in Kiswahili) and have made two recordings with that group. I'm sure Mom never guessed I would use my fiddle this way when she paid for all those lessons, but I'm very glad she did!
I wanted to teach when I ...Expand for more
was younger but ended up studying psych in college instead and later received a masters in Biblical counselling. It wasn't until I moved to Kenya that I finally began doing some teaching with youth and adults.
The largest department in our ministry is called Worth the Wait. We train young high school grads in our Worth the Wait sexual abstinence curriculum (which I helped write), preparing them to go into public schools on a weekly basis to lead classroom discussions on sexual issues like relationships, self-esteem and other related topics. By the end of the term, many students make decisions to embrace abstinence till marriage, the only sure way to avoid HIV infection, a huge threat to young people in Kenya. AIDS is rampant here (as much as 20% of the population is infected), so we try to help youth make choices that can help them live more fruitful and productive lives.
I love my work, which includes counselling and administrative duties as I assist my boss who is now the national director of Kenya Youth for Christ. I've found Kenyans to be warm, very lovable people, and the country is relatively peaceful and progressive economically since a new government was voted in several years ago (2002). We still have problems with corruption within the government, but progress is slowly being made to curb that.
I attend Nairobi Pentacostal Church and am part of their praise team. We seat 10,000 people on a Sunday (not a small church!), but being in the music team and also in a small Bible study in my neighborhood helps make the church feel small and personal. Kenya has become home -- but I come to the US usually once a year to see family and friends. Grandchildren tend to grow up very quickly, so I don't want to let too much time pass before I see them again!
We love visitors here, so if you've ever thought of going overseas, think of Kenya! We have a world class game park a few hours from Nairobi and wonderful weather most months. Drop me a line. I'd love to hear from you! You can also find me on Facebook, so give that a try.
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