President's Note: We're grateful for the opportunity to share the following story with you. It wasn't easy to convince Ron and Marilyn to let us tell it. Humble as always, the Eastmans preferred to remain anonymous, and it was only after explaining how their story might inspire others to pray for and support the nursing program that they finally relented. Our intent here is not to give Ron and Marilyn the proverbial pat on the back. They have no interest in such trifles. It is to glorify God by showing how He orchestrated the details of their lives—details that will result in what I believe will be one of Nyack's most powerful, most enduring ministries. Enjoy.

- Michael Scales, Ed.D

President

By Bob Dickson

Ron and Marilyn Eastman gave $1 million to Nyack's new nursing program, but don't call them heroes.

They won't have it.

For Ron Eastman, who has served on the Board of Nyack College and Alliance Theological Seminary since 1985 and as Chairman since 1995, the gift represented, more than anything else, an answer to decades of prayer.

It was less of a donation and more of an opportunity—an opportunity to touch the world for Christ in a special way. An opportunity to extend God's love to men and women when and where they need it most.

As big decisions go, it was an easy call.

"It was a matter of answering a simple question," Eastman says. "What would Christ rather we do, leave a few dollars for His work in 15 or 20 years or help put a few hundred Christian nurses in the field?"

The Eastmans' belief in the explosive outreach potential of Christian nurses sprouted years ago, when they had the opportunity to witness 1980 Nyack graduate Cheryl Phenicie in action.

Phenicie, who devoted her life extending pre and postnatal care to women in the Middle East, has made a huge impact in a spiritually dark part of the world.

In 1983, she and her husband Darrell became missionaries. Since then, Cheryl, a registered nurse, has helped to deliver hundreds of Muslim babies, all the while exhibiting a Christlike heart toward service and a Holy-Spirit driven desire to love those who are hostile toward Christ.

In 2000, Phenicie opened a prenatal clinic in a Muslim city in the Middle East. Today, she and Darrell are still ministering together in the same part of the world.

What impressed the Eastmans most about Phenicie's work was that it was, at heart, a ministry. By meeting the physical needs of Muslim mothers, she has opened a wide window of opportunity to share the gospel—to the women and to their husbands.

Thousands of Muslim families have heard truth as a result of Phenicie's faithfulness.

"I got to know Cheryl very well as a missionary, and she's the kind of person whose life story would inspire thousands," Eastman says. "She and her husband Darrell are fearless."

Through Phenicie's example, Eastman discovered for himself what God accomplished through the work of one Christian nurse. He began to wonder, "What might He accomplish through hundreds?"

And so the idea was born. Ron and Marilyn began praying for God to bring a nursing program to Nyack.

Ron has worked as a Vice President for Marriott International for almost 30 years. During this time he has helped develop scores of hotels and resorts worldwide.

The Eastmans didn't know it at the time, but while Ron was building hotels, God was slowly arranging to use them to build a nursing program.

In 2000, God opened a door for Eastman to serve on the Board of Directors at Shell Point Retirement Community in Fort Myers, Florida.

The community offers extensive on-site medical care for its residents, and as Eastman witnessed again the key role healthcare providers play in people's lives, his desire to see Nyack train Christian nurses burned even more deeply.

"We started a hospice at Shell Point," he says. "It is a wonderful ministry to the residents and to their families. We saw many make a decision for Christ. The ministry potential is infinite."

Eastman brought the idea before Nyack's Board of Trustees in October of 2004 and everyone was enthusiastic. The question, of course, was money.

How can we fund this?

God answered a year later.

"Marilyn and I were praying about how we could get the nursing program going when the Lord answered, 'What about that letter you received last week?'"

"That letter" came from Marriott, offering Eastman the opportunity to cash in the deferred stock he'd accumulated over 28 years. Cashing in early could mean taking less, but it would also mean he'd have the money in a matter of months.

"The letter came in October and it gave me the opportunity to receive the stock in March," Eastman says.

One million dollars of that money was gifted to Nyack in April. After decades of prayer by countless people, Ron and Marilyn were thrilled that God worked through them to provide an answer.

"I'm convinced this is where the Lord wants us to put this money," Eastman says.

The gift provided Nyack with the seed money to execute the vision Nyack has held for decades. In April 2006, the college announced the launch of the nursing program.

In the near future, Nyack will begin training Christian men and women to become nurses.

"The Eastmans' gift will leave a legacy of changed lives," says Nyack President Dr. Michael Scales. "Because of what God has allowed them to do, we will be able to send believing nurses into a world that sorely lacks Christian compassion. We'll be able to reach hurting people with the love of Christ."

Phenicie adds: "The Art of Nursing is a powerful way to be the hands and feet of Jesus in this world, and it will be nurtured in a Christian environment like Nyack College, where students are integrating their faith with a practical skill to reach this world for Christ."

Despite the magnitude of the gift, the Eastmans, whose lives have been marked by overwhelming generosity, want no credit.

"It's no big deal. It's just what happened," Eastman says. "We're the most unlikely people to do this. I'm just a sharecropper's son from South Dakota. Everything happened because the Lord put us there."