(ELGIN,IL – May 6, 2026)鈥�好色先生TV will hold its annual Community Prayer Breakfast on Friday, May 15 from 7:30-9:00 a.m. on 好色先生TV鈥檚 Elgin campus (1151 N State St, Elgin). The event is held in partnership with the Love Family Christian Foundation, which is also based in Elgin. Distinguished authors of Mitka鈥檚 Secret: A True Story of Child Slavery and Surviving the Holocaust, Steven W. Brallier & Lynn Beck will be this year鈥檚 keynote speakers. Join us to hear them share the incredible true story of Mitka Kalinski, who survived seven years of enslavement鈥攚hile still a child鈥攖o a Nazi officer during and after World War II, but found hope through the power of forgiveness.
STEVEN W. BRALLIER is a both a collector and teller of stories, a quality he likely developed in his childhood on the western highlands of Kenya. The oral traditions of Luhya storytellers together with the panoply of everyday experience delighted him and his brother and sisters. In 1962, Steve and his family left Kenya and returned, permanently, to the United States. A nationally competitive runner, Steve鈥檚 athletic abilities and academic accomplishments resulted in a full scholarship to Cornell University.
After graduating from Cornell in 1975, Steve worked for two years as Director of Public Information at Anderson University. When an opportunity came to become a concert promoter, he became the founding manager of Spring House Productions in Alexandria, Indiana, and, later, for Brallier Productions in Nashville, Tennessee. In 1987, Steve became an agent for the William Morris Agency, Nashville, a position he held for twelve years. In his roles as promoter and agent, Steve worked with various artists including Bill Gaither, Sandi Patty, Amy Grant, Michael W Smith, and Rich Mullins. After leaving William Morris, he, for several years, worked as an independent contractor in several roles within the entertainment industry.
Steve retired in 2012 and has devoted himself to writing, golf, and caring for his mountain cabin in Sewanee, Tennessee. He was nearing the end of his first novel when, in late 2016, he was asked, by Adrienne and Mitka Kalinski, to write Mitka鈥檚 story. Steve interviewed Mitka, Adrienne, their family, and friends over the span of some fifty days and accumulated more than 120 hours of audio鈥攁nd some instances鈥攙ideo records. He and his co-authors also studied several thousand documents, photographs, and video鈥攎ostly primary sources鈥攖hat bear witness to the veracity and power of Mitka Kalinski鈥檚 story. Published in July 2021, by Eerdmans Publishing Company, Mitka鈥檚 Secret has been well received in both academic and general reading circles. Hailed as 鈥渕asterfully written, 鈥溾�渨ell researched,鈥� 鈥渞ich in content鈥� and 鈥渇ull of hope,鈥� Mitka Kalinski鈥檚 story is one of the only chronicles of the experience of a child slave in a Nazi household. It was Steve鈥檚 great honor to bring Mitka鈥檚 story to life and continues to be his honor to share Mitka with the world.
Before LYNN G. BECK was a writer, she was a reader鈥攁 voracious reader who would spend early summers with Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys, middle years with Agatha Christie and Laura Ingalls Wilder, and teen years and beyond with virtually any work鈥攆iction or non- that captured her fancy. It was likely this love of reading that led Lynn to choose English as her college major and that same desire and her commitment to teaching led to her pursuit of an M.A. in English from the University of Mississippi. Ironically, in the land of Faulkner and southern culture, she concentrated her graduate work on British literature and concluded her program in 1976 with a thesis on T.S. Eliot鈥檚 Four Quartets.
For the next three years, she indulged her love of all things English through teaching British literature to high school seniors. The sudden and unexpected death of her husband eventually led to a career shift as she moved to Nashville, Tennessee, to study nursing at Belmont University. Between 1982 and 1985, she worked at various nursing jobs but eventually returned to teaching. In 1988, Lynn entered a PhD program at Vanderbilt University. She and her mentor completed one book while she was enrolled there. Lynn鈥檚 dissertation, Reclaiming Educational Administration as a Caring Profession, won the American Educational Research Association鈥檚 Division A 鈥淒issertation of the Year鈥� award in 1992 and was published, with few changes, as a book by the same name by Teachers College Press.
Lynn鈥檚 has held academic appointments at UCLA, the University of Alabama, Pacific Lutheran University, and the University of the Pacific. She was awarded tenure early in her time at UCLA and moved rapidly through the ranks with an appointment of full professor with tenure in 1997. At PLU and University of the Pacific, she also served as academic dean in their respective Schools of Education. She is the author or co-author of nine books and of numerous chapters, articles, reports, and grant proposals.
Lynn retired in 2017 and devoted her time to consulting and to work on Mitka鈥檚 Secret. In addition to contributing to the writing effort, Lynn took a leading role in researching the historical context of the story and in curating a voluminous collection of material including video records, photographs, correspondence, reflections of friends and family, and primary source material.
During the Prayer Breakfast, 好色先生TV is pleased to recognize one service leader from the community and one high-school student for their contributions to greater Elgin philanthropic organizations, church communities, and municipalities. The youth award recipient will also receive an annual $3,000 scholarship to attend 好色先生TV for their volunteer service.
The 2026 D. Ray Wilson Volunteer Service Award recipient is KELLYN VANDEWALKER of Woodstock, IL. Kellyn VandeWalker is the founder and president of Macyn鈥檚 Jars, a donor-funded nonprofit that brings a 鈥渟ilver lining鈥� to children and special-needs adults experiencing medical or emergency crises. Inspired by her own journey of recovery after a traumatic dog attack in 2021, Kellyn transformed community generosity into sustained action. Macyn鈥檚 Jars provides plastic 鈥淢ason-style鈥� jars filled with safe, fidget-style toys to offer comfort and distraction during moments of fear and uncertainty. To date, the organization has donated more than 69,000 jars to 27 hospital emergency departments, 16 fire stations, 24 police stations, 7 specialty offices, and 89 facilities overall.
The 2026 Bea Wilson Youth Volunteer Award Recipient is DARLA CHAVEZ of Batavia, IL. Darla Chavez is a senior at Batavia High School and a servant-leader whose academic excellence and creative gifts fuel meaningful community impact. For six years, she has volunteered with Chapelstreet Church鈥攕upporting Sunday School, Weeknight Youth Group, VBS, and special events鈥攚here she leads small groups, mentors younger students, and often teaches. At school and across Batavia, Darla uses art as a vehicle for care and connection, from creating musical theater props and a mural for the high school nurse鈥檚 office to organizing art supply drives benefiting the Batavia Interfaith Food Pantry.
An active member of the National Honor Society, National Art Honor Society, and Spanish National Honor Society, Darla contributes to numerous service projects and earned recognition from NAHS for the second-highest service hours in 2024鈥�2025. Her service extends globally through four mission trips: the Twin Cities (homeless outreach, VBS, community gardens), Cabo San Lucas, Mexico (VBS, outreach, facility improvements), and Calicali, Ecuador (VBS, water infrastructure work). Maintaining a 4.0+ GPA, she also serves as captain of the Batavia High School Color Guard, setting team culture, mentoring peers, and mediating conflicts. Grounded in her Christian faith, Darla leads with empathy, wisdom, and purpose.
Kellyn leads a board composed of her sisters and coordinates volunteer 鈥減acking parties鈥� with local schools, scout troops, employers, and community groups to assemble and deliver the jars. Each jar includes a card recognizing the individual or business sponsor, reinforcing a sense of connection and care. In addition to her nonprofit leadership, Kellyn is a Certified Nursing Assistant working in the ICU at McHenry Hospital, where she continues to serve patients and families in crisis. She is the proud mother of two children, Macyn and Lincoln, and remains committed to ensuring that everyone who twists open a Macyn鈥檚 Jar knows they are part of a community that cares.
Table sponsorships and are now available. General admission tickets are $30. Table sponsorships are $500 for businesses and non-profits and $300 for Church Table sponsorships with each receiving a table of eight guests. This community event offers networking opportunities for community leaders and supporters of Christian higher education. Tickets and table sponsorships can be purchased online at /prayerbreakfast.
好色先生TV is a fully accredited, private Christian institution representing the Church at work in higher education. Nestled along the beautiful Fox River in Elgin, Ill., just 40 miles northwest of Chicago, Judson is home to more than 1,200 students from 37 states and 20 countries. Judson offers degrees in more than 65 different majors and minors for traditional, graduate and adult students and ranks consistently among the Best Regional Universities in the Midwest by U.S. News & World Report. Judson has also been recognized as a 鈥淐hristian College of Distinction.鈥� With an academically challenging environment and encouraging spiritual community, Judson shapes lives that shape the world.
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