Ben Lappenga of Holland and Eleonora (Nora) Maries of Bucharest, Romania, who are students at Hope and Albion colleges respectively, will be guests of Robert Schuller on the "Hour of Power" television program on Sunday, March 22.
The program will be presented locally on WWMT,
Channel 3 of Kalamazoo, at 6 a.m. and on WZZM, Channel 13 of
Grand Rapids, at 9 a.m.
Lappenga and Maries, both juniors, will be
featured as the first recipients of scholarships established
at each of the colleges in honor of Robert H. Schuller and
his wife Arvella of Orange, Calif. The scholarships were
established by William Biggs, an educator, entrepreneur and
motivator, and his wife, Ruth Ann. William Biggs and Ruth
Ann Biggs, who live in both Marshall and Hilton Head, S.C.,
are graduates of Albion College. Robert Schuller is a Hope
College graduate, and Arvella Schuller was a member of
Hope's Board of Trustees. Hope presented Robert Schuller
with an honorary degree in 1973, and Arvella with one in
1992.
The scholarships honor Schuller for having, with
Arvella's support, a positive influence as pastor of the
Crystal Cathedral, founder of the "Hour of Power" and author
of "Move Ahead With Possibility Thinking." They are
designed to help deserving students so that they can make
positive contributions to the world.
Lappenga is a Classics major, a field that
includes study of the Greek and Latin languages, and is also
interested in music. He is a member of the Hope Music
Ministry Team that performs for the college's weekday chapel
services and the Sunday evening "Gathering," which attract
more than 1,000 Hope students.
He is a songwriter and teacher of guitar, and a
member of the musical group "paisley dAve." He is a member
of the college's Eta Sigma Phi classics honorary society,
and is regularly named to Hope's dean's list.
Lappenga is the son of John and Joan Lappenga of
Holland, and a 1995 graduate of Holland Christian High
School. His older brother Matt is a 1997 Hope graduate, and
younger brother Dan is a Hope freshman.
The "Hour of Power" emanates from the weekly
worship services at the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove,
Calif. The program is broadcast in 155 countries and six
languages.
Schuller is a 1947 Hope graduate, and is an
ordained pastor of the Reformed Church in America. His
church, Garden Grove Community Church, is a congregation of
the Reformed Church in America, which is also the college's
parent denomination.