It was 1989 and I picked a phone number out of the directory of the ministry for a preacher in the Chicago area and simply called him up. “Can I sleep on a pew in your church building.” I asked. “Who are you?” Winston Zastrow asked. “A missionary traveling through” was my answer. He would not let me sleep in the church but invited me to stay with him and his wife Bernice. From that strange beginning developed a very close friendship that would last for more than a quarter of a century. I stayed often in their home when traveled through or when studying in the Chicago area. The church he was preaching at soon began to support our work. Towards the end they often asked me to do odd jobs around the house when staying there. “You are like family” Bernice commented-and so I was! It was with great sadness that I recently learned that Winston had passed from this life to glory. While I celebrated his victory over death, I mourned this time of separation from my dear friend and mentor. Yet, I was honored and humbled when Bernice and his family picked the Colombian Christian Mission as the missions recipient of memorial gifts in his honor. His legacy will live on through these special gifts that will be used to furnish our new dorm building at the church camp in Colombia!
