There is a South African proverb that speaks of finding joy and happiness in ordinary surroundings. Paul Simon wrote a song about this proverb called Diamonds On the Soles of Her Shoes. The interesting thing about diamonds is they don’t look like much in their uncut condition. Rugged and not pretty at all in their natural state, they are pale-colored, cloudy glass that the average person would throw away like a piece of quartz – never considering or thinking about their value. Until they’re cut and polished, their amazing sparkle and incredible beauty remains hidden.
In a way, you could say Lynn Ann and I have spent over 50 years hunting for diamonds. And during the past 5 decades of service to urban children at risk, we’ve uncovered a great number of diamonds. It is improbable that these beautiful gems would ever have been found, had it not been for the work of Aslan Youth Ministries.
I will never forget the day so long ago in the summer of 1972 when I first saw a young man named Chris smiling at me from behind a chain-linked fence next to his tiny house. I remember thinking he was a handsome kid, but I had no idea way back then that he was a diamond waiting to be found, cut and polished. I didn’t see Chris again until three years later in the cold winter of 1975 when he first came to Aslan Bible class. And even then, I didn’t have a clue the level of success that this young man would achieve.
When I spoke with Chris’ mom about sending him to summer camp, she thought it could be a great experience for her son. What I didn’t realize at that time is Chris’s family had just moved from the mean streets of the Bronx out to a suburban area of New Jersey. Chris was most certainly not on a pathway to success, and his failing the sixth-grade had a lot to do with the move. It was no accident that God had called Aslan to work in the exact neighborhood that Chris moved to from New York City.
Let me tell you a story that puts Chris’ life and the lives of every child we at Aslan have touched. Back in 2008, Joshua Bell, one of the greatest concert violinists of our time, participated in an event that would eventually become a Pulitzer Prize-winning documentary. Bell was asked to give an anonymous & unadvertised 45-minute performance at the Metro subway station in Washington, D.C. Out of over 1,000 people who walked past him, only one person recognized him. Bell collected $52.17 from passersby in his open violin case, including a whopping $20 from the person who recognized him! Bell was playing his $4,000,000 Stradivarius as a hidden camera captured this experiment. Joshua Bell had diamonds on the soles of his shoes, but only a handful even stopped to listen.
As we got to know him, we saw incredible potential in this one child, and Chris fell in love with Aslan. He excelled in every endeavor he tried, and upon graduating from high school in 1979, he received an appointment to the Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland. There was one prerequisite: he had to spend a year at the Naval Preparatory School in Newport, Rhode Island. After graduating 7th out of 200 students at Newport, he entered the Academy intending to become a Navy fighter pilot and eventually an astronaut. However, his eyesight didn’t meet the standard for becoming a space explorer. So, Chris set his sights on underwater exploration by becoming a submariner.
Chris was also an incredible athlete who set all kinds of records on the freshman football squad. In his sophomore year, the coach invited him to play on the varsity team, where he would be scouted by professional teams. Wise beyond his years, Chris realized this would become a distraction from his goal to graduate at the top of his class at Annapolis and be commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant on a Navy Attack Sub. His ultimate goal was to become a Naval engineer and scientist, and, one day, the Commander of a Navy submarine. Look at the accomplishments that this gifted Aslan graduate has accomplished:
- Becoming a Commander on board a nuclear-powered submarine;
- As a Naval officer stationed in Naples, Italy, Chris was in charge of stationing the entire NATO submarine fleet in the Mediterranean Sea just before Operation Desert Storm (the first Gulf War);
- Graduated from the Navy Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA, with a double major in Oceanography & Meteorology. This made Chris eligible for the Astronaut program as a mission specialist.
- Being stationed at Allied Command in London, UK, as the Associate Director of Ocean, Atmosphere, and Space Science Technology for the Office of Naval Research Global.
- Assisting 64 countries with scientific collaborations on behalf of the US Navy.
Until recently, Chris was the Director and Principal for his company, Aslan Alliance Pty Ltd, providing consultancy services to the Director of Defence and Space Research Office at Curtin University in Western Australia.
Chris represents everything that Aslan Youth Ministries teaches and is about. We are so grateful to God that we were privileged to discover this beautiful diamond in the rough! He, his beautiful wife, and his son will always be front and center in our hearts and lives. Our admiration for Chris has no bounds.
Thankfully, and by God’s grace, we are coming out from under the huge burdens of this year. Over the past 9 months the two of us have faced serious health issues, but now we’re stronger. At 77 and 76, it would have been easy to just close Aslan down and ride off into the sunset. But the two of us and our small staff and hundreds of volunteers are more committed than ever to serving these children that God has placed in our care. We don’t charge for children to come to Aslan. We are 100 percent donor funded from individuals and foundations. Lynn Ann and I can only continue our hunt for diamonds if you support the incomparable work of Aslan Youth Ministries. Please give generously as we approach the end of this year.
With love,
Craig & Lynn Ann
