Ed Christopherson: "It's not me, it's the Lord"

Ed Christopherson has lived in Alexandria with his wife Sylvia for nearly 50 years.

But Tom Ness, Minnesota FCA’s Central Lakes area director, recalled someone asking about Ed in Warroad, 4 ½ north of Alexandria.

“He’s passionate about the Lord, and he’s passionate about sharing it,” Tom says. “He has a genuineness and love for the Lord. Even now, he’s still going 100 miles per hour. He’s a tireless worker.”

In Alexandria, during FCA's Thanksgiving Breakfast, Ed and Sylvia will be honored for their service in the town and even communities hundreds of miles away. Of course, Ed started the breakfast 45-plus years ago.

Just don’t expect Ed to pat himself on the back.

That’s certainly not his style.

“Well, it’s not me,” he says. “It’s the Lord.”

“The athletes knew what they wanted to do.”

But Ed would invite players and others to his Huddle.

Ed says that was natural.

“I had two brothers who were pastors,” he says, “and my mother and dad prayed a lot. That was part of our family.”

Larry Novotny attended huddles in the Christophersons home, where 30 to 60 students piled shoes near the door then crammed into the living room to dive into the Word.

“It was always welcoming and warming there,” Larry says. “We looked forward to everything, every week, because it was always going to be good.

“He was someone you looked up to and respected very much. He was someone you could trust, at all times. We were never afraid to say anything or ask any questions at FCA, because of Ed.”

Sylvia recalled to the Echo Press how FCA has had a “ripple effect.”

“We are personally aware of situations when one student has shared their faith with another student and a student has shared with a parent to make a huge difference in the eternal destiny,” Sylvia told the newspaper. “God has blessed the sharing that has occurred through FCA.”

Photos courtesy of Christopherson family