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Judson honors volunteers at annual prayer breakfast

Henoch Fuentes was honored Wednesday for community service during Judson University's annual Community Prayer Breakfast in Elgin.

The D. Ray Wilson Volunteer Service Award recognizes volunteers for serving others' physical, emotional, intellectual or spiritual needs.

Fuentes, of Elgin, is pastor of outreach for the Evangelical Covenant Church of Elgin where he has been a member more than 20 years. He has volunteered with the Elgin police and fire departments, served as a chaplain and counselor for jail inmates.

He is founder of the CASA AMEN House, a home offering medical services to 32 people in his homeland of Chile.

Fuentes and Elgin firefighters went to Chile following an earthquake, bringing fire trucks and equipment. Since then, Elgin has adopted the city of Cauquenes, and other local ambassadors visited and made trade agreements.

For the last four years, Fuentes has served as a Bible teacher and theologian with the Spanish-English Ministry Studies program at Judson. He leads a weekly street ministry in Chicago, and has served as a chaplain for the Elgin Police Department for 20 years.

"Above all, I just give God all the glory," Fuentes said as he accepted the honor and recognized his wife and the Elgin Fire Department.

The other nominees were:

• Leon and Carol Miller of Elgin, who have managed the weekly Soup Kettle at Highland Avenue Church of the Brethren for more than 30 years. It provides hot meals to anyone in need. The Millers have mentored the managers of six other Soup Kettle churches, and were instrumental in setting up the Soup Kettles at seven Elgin churches almost 30 years ago.

• Tammy Wheatley of Elgin, a Sunday school teacher at the Vineyard Church of Elgin, nursery leader and AWANA club instructor. Wheatley founded The Matthew 25:40 Ministry to assist the homeless in Elgin. Her organization and others help staff an emergency winter shelter at First United Methodist Church and provide meals.

• Carrie Zaccaria of Elgin, who started Go with the Flow to provide homeless women in the Kane County area with feminine hygiene products. She also works with the Community Crisis Center and Wayside Cross Ministries.

Former University of Texas baseball player and magician Jim Munroe was the keynote speaker.

Munroe began investigating the unknown, the supernatural and magic after a debilitating sports injury. He wrote "The Charlatan: The Skeptical, Mysterious, Supernatural True Story of a Christian Magician." He underwent a bone-marrow transplant after being diagnosed with leukemia. His show, "The MAZE," is a recruitment tool for the National Bone Marrow Registry's Be The Match drive.

Riley Elmore, a top 20 finalist on season 11 of "The Voice," performed during the breakfast. He is a junior at Dundee-Crown High School in Carpentersville and a member of his school's chamber choir and jazz band.

COURTESY OF JUDSON UNIVERSITYAuthor and magician Jim Munroe was the keynote speaker Wednesday at Judson University's annual Community Prayer Breakfast in Elgin.
COURTESY OF JUDSON UNIVERSITYJudson University in Elgin recognized several local volunteers for their community service Wednesday during its annual Community Prayer Breakfast.
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