CEO urges others to seek God's plan at Wheaton prayer breakfast

Government officials, religious leaders, business owners and other community members were urged Friday to seek "God's plan" and use their "God-given gifts" to serve others and make the world a better place during the 30th annual Wheaton Leadership Prayer Breakfast.

Feed My Starving Children CEO Mark Crea was the keynote speaker at the breakfast, which was held at Abbington Banquets in Glen Ellyn. He provided examples of how his decisions to follow God's plan instead of his own has resulted in the immense growth and success of his company, which provides food to malnourished children in 70 countries.

Crea said his career has "been at its best" when he followed God's plan and took time to understand the talents God has given him.

"I can point to the times in my career when I was driving the bus, when I thought 'This is what I need to do.' In some ways, I was successful. But I was not impactful," he said. "I was not, at my core, happy with what I was doing."

When Crea joined Feed My Starving Children in 2004, the organization was trying to get back to its Christian roots. Until 2003, he said, the organization was consistently preparing 3 million meals a year. But when Crea took the lead, the number of meals increased, up to 229 million in 2014.

"We pray over that food," he said, adding that the number of volunteers also has grown, from 20,000 to 1 million. "We see miracles happen almost every day."

An example of those miracles includes a 4-year-old boy who Crea found naked, malnourished and feverish in a remote village. Now the boy is able to stand, walk and smile, after being brought to an orphanage and fed food provided by the organization.

"He has got a personality that lights up the room," he said.

Even though the food is being sent to some of the most troubled places in the world, including Afghanistan, the Philippines and the Central African Republic, it successfully reaches its destination 99.6 percent of the time.

"It is a number that defies man," Crea said, adding that he would encourage other leaders to search for God's presence in their organizations and businesses, because if they do, "He will take you to greater things."

The breakfast also featured a prayer written for the anniversary of Sept. 11 and remarks from Mayor Michael Gresk and the Rev. Mike Rowe of First Baptist Church of Wheaton. Gresk referenced the Greek Ephebic Oath, stating that everyone in attendance has an obligation to "transmit the city greater and more beautiful than it was transmitted to us."

Angie Thomas from the First Baptist Brass Ensemble performed "The Lord's Prayer" and asked the crowd to stand up and sing along with her to the song, "In Christ Alone." Guests also heard a reading from the Old and New Testaments of the Bible that noted the importance of caring for those in need.