Just saw this. Hopefully the usual suspects can resist commenting on things beyond the specific topic at hand.
ZEELAND — A couple hundred people formed a circle on Wednesday night in a parking lot.
A prayer circle.
For Chuck Berghorst, who is on a ventilator in a Grand Rapids hospital, fighting COVID-19.
“First, thank you for being here,” said Jonathan Elgersma, the senior pastor at Faith Reformed Church in Zeeland. “I had a chance to be with Chuck today in the hospital and with him yesterday. He had a little bit of improvement today. … his oxygen levels are actually pretty good today. So we need to continue to pray for those things. The big thing is the inflammation in his lungs, that inflammation needs to continue to go down for him to get better.”
Chuck Berghorst played basketball at Aquinas College in Grand Rapids.
His son Adam, a rare dual-sport college athlete who is playing both football and baseball at Michigan State, stayed at the hospital on Wednesday night to be with his mother.
MORE SEIDEL:Why Friday night was the best gift of all from the Tigers to Miguel Cabrera
ADAM BERGHORST'S MINUTES:How Mel Tucker used MSU's blowout to find hidden gems for future games
SATURDAY IN EAST LANSING:MSU shouldn't have beaten Nebraska. But the Spartans wouldn't give up
But Chuck’s son Jonathan, a member of the Free Press' football Dream Team in 2016 who went on to play football at Central Michigan, joined the prayer circle near Faith Reformed Church.
They started out signing “Amazing Grace” and finished with the lines: “Through many dangers, toils and snares
"We have already come
"T’was Grace that brought us safe thus far
"And Grace will lead us home.”
It was beautiful and heartwarming.
To see an entire community come together.
They came from churches across West Michigan.
“We ask for you to pour down on this place, and take every prayer that is spoken out loud, or spoken in our hearts, and transform them into something that honors you,” a woman said into the microphone. “Right now, right here, Lord, we're asking for miraculous healing, for healing of inflammation, healing of anything that is standing in the way of full and complete recovery for Chuck.”
A man standing in the middle of the circle spoke the first words of the Lord’s Prayer — “Our father, who are in heaven…” — and everybody continued it.
Then a woman took the microphone.
“We are storming your gates with prayer tonight,” prayed Sue Stein, who is Chuck’s aunt. “We know that he is in your hands.”
Another woman took a turn.
“We just asked you tonight to reach down and touch him and heal him,” she prayed. “Help his body fight this disease. And use your power to take him out of this valley he's in."
Dirk Koorstra, who coached Chuck on a JV basketball team, stood in that circle.
So did Lars Draeger, who coached all the Berghorst boys at Zeeland East.
“Chuck has been great to our program,” Draeger said. “Obviously, he needs our prayers and needs to get better.”
Pat Berghorst, Chuck’s mother, said her son was put on a ventilator on Saturday. She said he is heavily sedated but not in a medically induced coma.
“I can't go up there,” she said. “I sit in the parking lot for three or four hours and read my Bible while my husband's in there.”
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Pat Berghorst said people were praying for her son, at the same time, across the nation.
“From coast to coast,” she said. “We're gonna storm heaven's gates.”
And that idea is giving the family some relief. “I am peace because so many people are praying and trusting God's faith,” Jonathan Berghorst said. “It shows the strength of a community. This is just amazing.”
For a second, put aside the debates about the vaccine and politics and come to this moment with compassion and an open heart.
Because when all the noise becomes deafening, as well as dividing, you forget there are people who are fighting for their lives.
And right now, take a second of your day, and do me a favor.
Send them some good vibes or a prayer, if you are inclined.
For Chuck Berghorst and his family.
And all the others who are fighting this horrible disease.
“T’was Grace that brought us safe thus far
"And Grace will lead us home.”
Why Zeeland is rallying around the COVID-struck father of a two-sport MSU athlete
Chuck Berghorst, the father of MSU tight end and pitcher Adam Berghorst, is in a Grand Rapids hospital dealing with COVID-19.
www.freep.com
ZEELAND — A couple hundred people formed a circle on Wednesday night in a parking lot.
A prayer circle.
For Chuck Berghorst, who is on a ventilator in a Grand Rapids hospital, fighting COVID-19.
“First, thank you for being here,” said Jonathan Elgersma, the senior pastor at Faith Reformed Church in Zeeland. “I had a chance to be with Chuck today in the hospital and with him yesterday. He had a little bit of improvement today. … his oxygen levels are actually pretty good today. So we need to continue to pray for those things. The big thing is the inflammation in his lungs, that inflammation needs to continue to go down for him to get better.”
Chuck Berghorst played basketball at Aquinas College in Grand Rapids.
His son Adam, a rare dual-sport college athlete who is playing both football and baseball at Michigan State, stayed at the hospital on Wednesday night to be with his mother.
MORE SEIDEL:Why Friday night was the best gift of all from the Tigers to Miguel Cabrera
ADAM BERGHORST'S MINUTES:How Mel Tucker used MSU's blowout to find hidden gems for future games
SATURDAY IN EAST LANSING:MSU shouldn't have beaten Nebraska. But the Spartans wouldn't give up
But Chuck’s son Jonathan, a member of the Free Press' football Dream Team in 2016 who went on to play football at Central Michigan, joined the prayer circle near Faith Reformed Church.
They started out signing “Amazing Grace” and finished with the lines: “Through many dangers, toils and snares
"We have already come
"T’was Grace that brought us safe thus far
"And Grace will lead us home.”
It was beautiful and heartwarming.
To see an entire community come together.
They came from churches across West Michigan.
“We ask for you to pour down on this place, and take every prayer that is spoken out loud, or spoken in our hearts, and transform them into something that honors you,” a woman said into the microphone. “Right now, right here, Lord, we're asking for miraculous healing, for healing of inflammation, healing of anything that is standing in the way of full and complete recovery for Chuck.”
A man standing in the middle of the circle spoke the first words of the Lord’s Prayer — “Our father, who are in heaven…” — and everybody continued it.
Then a woman took the microphone.
“We are storming your gates with prayer tonight,” prayed Sue Stein, who is Chuck’s aunt. “We know that he is in your hands.”
Another woman took a turn.
“We just asked you tonight to reach down and touch him and heal him,” she prayed. “Help his body fight this disease. And use your power to take him out of this valley he's in."
Dirk Koorstra, who coached Chuck on a JV basketball team, stood in that circle.
So did Lars Draeger, who coached all the Berghorst boys at Zeeland East.
“Chuck has been great to our program,” Draeger said. “Obviously, he needs our prayers and needs to get better.”
Pat Berghorst, Chuck’s mother, said her son was put on a ventilator on Saturday. She said he is heavily sedated but not in a medically induced coma.
“I can't go up there,” she said. “I sit in the parking lot for three or four hours and read my Bible while my husband's in there.”
Get the Coronavirus Watch newsletter in your inbox.
Updates on how the coronavirus is affecting your community and the nation
Delivery: Varies
Your Email
Pat Berghorst said people were praying for her son, at the same time, across the nation.
“From coast to coast,” she said. “We're gonna storm heaven's gates.”
And that idea is giving the family some relief. “I am peace because so many people are praying and trusting God's faith,” Jonathan Berghorst said. “It shows the strength of a community. This is just amazing.”
For a second, put aside the debates about the vaccine and politics and come to this moment with compassion and an open heart.
Because when all the noise becomes deafening, as well as dividing, you forget there are people who are fighting for their lives.
And right now, take a second of your day, and do me a favor.
Send them some good vibes or a prayer, if you are inclined.
For Chuck Berghorst and his family.
And all the others who are fighting this horrible disease.
“T’was Grace that brought us safe thus far
"And Grace will lead us home.”
