One day, Dad decided to hitchhike home for a weekend on the farm. Standing on a dirt road outside of town, he was glad when a large sedan finally pulled over. Quickly he opened the passenger door, folding his lanky body into the front seat. As the car bumped along the gravel road, the driver began talking. He spoke of a God who loves us more than any human being ever could. About a God so desperate to reveal himself that he became a man and was tortured and murdered by the people he loved. He talked about a God so powerful he raised his Son from the dead. The story captivated the attention of a young man unfamiliar with the gospel, and by the time he stepped out of the car and waved good-bye, my father’s world had been turned upside down.

The driver of the car was none other than Dr. Robert Cook who later became the president of King’s College, an evangelical school on the East Coast, and a well-known Bible teacher with a national radio program. Even though Dr. Cook had been driving a familiar route that day, he still managed to get lost. He never could figure out how he ended up on that Illinois back road, where Clair Hutchins stood waiting for a ride. However it happened, one man lost his way that day so another could find it. My dad was the first in his family to receive Jesus Christ as his Savior.

Dad was so overwhelmed by God’s love that he put all his big plans on hold, ready to make whatever changes God might indicate. He decided to quit the opera company to attend Moody Bible Institute and later Northern Baptist Seminary. A few years before I was born, he accepted a position as music director for a church in Chicago and later as pastor of Beulah Temple, a church on the south side of Chicago.

Cymbala, Carol. He’s Been Faithful. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan publishing House, 2001, p. 32-33.