Servant Leader-in-Residence Program

The Center for Faithful Leadership's Servant Leader-in-Residence program seeks to enhance Hope College's ability to create leaders. Servant Leaders-in-Residence are people of outstanding character and competence. In the context of CFL, this means they are people of high emotional and social intelligence, transformational leaders who live "purpose-driven" and "others-focused" lives, and who have the ability and willingness to lead teams of students in service to individuals, organizations, and even systems and institutions. CFL's first Servant Leader-in-Residence is Dr. Virgil Gulker. Among many of Dr. Gulker's accomplishments, including the founding of Love INC, one in particular stands out.

In October, 1993, Virgil Gulker, working under the auspices of International Aid, conducted a research project. The objectives of this project were to answer two questions: First, what are the most pressing needs facing American Youth today? Second, how can the church reach out to these children and their families? By November, 1994, he had an answer and a plan and was looking for at least one church to test his ministry idea (KidsHope USA). By February, 1995, members of Mason County Reformed, Grace Reformed of Holland, and Ottawa Reformed of Zeeland agreed to sponsor 54 public elementary school children. By 2003, members in 217 churches connected with 3,800 children. By the end of 2007, 705 churches in the US and Australia were sponsoring 9,300 children, and the numbers keep growing.

But success isn't always measured by numbers. The focus is on elementary students. The mentor-student relationship provides a foundation that gives students a sense of dignity. The result is that the student feels special and valued and gains confidence to tackle learning issues.

Dr. Gulker brings a unique perspective to CFL. He will be working with students, teaching them how to define and solve problems from the perspective of a social entrepreneur.

Many students want to make a difference but don't know how; Dr. Gulker's role at CFL will be to actually give them the tools to be a difference-maker. "We are taking a new, real-world approach to teaching and learning problem solving," says Gulker, "We are looking at and attempting to solve serious societal issues from multiple perspectives in an unbiased manner. We will engage people from all sectors of the community. We will also encourage students to look at those societal issues that tug at their individual hearts, and we hope to mentor them through the problem-defining and problem-solving stages."

"We have been given a great opportunity to work with Dr. Virgil Gulker," says Steve VanderVeen, Director of CFL. "What better role model for students than an authentic servant leader? What better role model for students who want to make a positive and significant difference than a selfless entrepreneur?"