When I am Weak: Ron Homenuke
Each year Prairie Bible College honors a former student who has made a significant long-term contribution and demonstrated spiritual commitment, endurance and personal sacrifice in reaching the world for Christ. Endurance and sacrifice were key words on April 25 when Ron Homenuke (Class of 1984) was honored as the Distinguished Alumnus for 2008 during an evening of celebration held the day before graduation.
Growing up in the cold winters of northern British Columbia, Ron became a skilled hockey player and made his mark early in the junior leagues. Drafted by the Vancouver Canucks, his professional career was well on its way when injuries brought a halt to Ron’s dreams and he moved on from the hockey world to training in Wildland Recreation at Selkirk College in British Columbia. By then he had received Christ through the witness of a friend, but due to a lack of discipling, Ron’s carefree lifestyle carried on much as before.
Early one morning in 1976, he and some fellow students decided to hike the Kokanee Glacier. On the way down, Ron lost his footing and fell almost 2000 feet to the base, suffering severe brainstem injuries. He lay in a hospital, unconscious for the first three weeks, until his transfer to a rehabilitation center where the former star athlete found himself learning to walk and talk all over again.
Ron’s determination and hard work paid off as he fought his way back to relative health and enrolled at Prairie Bible College in 1980, still suffering the effects of his injury. He persevered and grew spiritually under the godly examples of friends and teachers and went to the Philippines in 1985 as a full-time missionary with Action International Ministries (ACTION). After working with street children in Manila, Ron moved on to a church-based outreach in the city of Olongapo where he carried out a very productive ministry for 14 years. He is at present involved in a development of ACTION called Lifehouse Village, which will house up to 63 orphans when completed.
Ron’s autobiography On the Edge, published in 2002, documents the fatigue, bouts of illness, ministry setbacks and spiritual warfare that have made his life and ministry anything but easy. They have allowed him, however, to see how God delights in using the weak and the ordinary to accomplish his eternal purposes. As evidence of Ron’s passionate investment in the forgotten children of the Philippines, a former street boy named Al will be his assistant at a new drop-in center for other lost and neglected children.
“Be the best that you can be with what the Lord has given you,” Ron told Prairie students. “After my accident I had to relinquish the rights to running my life. I’ve learned to cope but I still struggle with the off-balance gait and the slurred speech when I’m tired. I wouldn’t trade my life for anything, though. Giving the Lord first place in my life, especially as a missionary, is far more than I could ever ask for.”
Through a near fatal experience, God has brought Ron Homenuke into a life of purpose and fulfillment. His accomplishments in the hockey arena were temporary, but the difference he is making in the lives of the children that nobody wants will last for eternity.
—Pat Massey