Olivet Nazarene University

 

Standing before the Olivet community, his booming voice echoing through the standing-room-only crowd in Chalfant Hall, Dr. Charles “Chuck” Millhuff ’60 has captivated his audience.

It’s difficult to imagine this articulate, larger-than-life evangelist is the same boy from the south side of Chicago who was deemed far from “college material.”

Chuck’s journey from the wrong side to a well-known evangelist began with a friend’s unlikely request: Chuck should attend Olivet with him. His friend, Paul Cunningham ’60 (now general superintendent of the Church of the Nazarene), said if Chuck joined him, he would help him succeed.

Chuck obliged and was accepted into the University.

Three weeks into his freshman year, Chuck attended an Olivet revival service with evangelist Bill Fischer. Although Chuck had made a commitment to Christ at the age of 5, he had since fallen away from the Lord.

But something about Bill resonated with Chuck. “If that’s an evangelist,” he remembers thinking of Bill, “I like that.” A Saturday morning breakfast with the speaker confirmed a calling on Chuck’s life — and served as a needed wake-up call to shape up.

From that point, Chuck decided to get serious about his studies and heed the call God had placed on him to become an evangelist.

Chuck became what he calls “radically saved.” He attended Prayer Band services Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, and was befriended by another now-general superintendent, James Diehl ’59.

The first time James asked him to speak in Prayer Band, Chuck gave his personal testimony — and then he gave an alter call. “I didn’t know any better!” he laughs.

His sophomore year, he led a revival in Owensville, Mo. “Oh, we had crowds. One night we must have had seven or eight [people],” he recalls with a smile in his eyes. From there, came other revivals — large venues, small churches — television shows, books, earned advanced degrees, and thousands of decisions made at altars where he’s preached.

Coming home

Now back on campus nearly 50 years after graduation, Chuck still speaks with a passion and an urgency to assist people in making life-altering decisions.

“There are some people sitting out there right now [who] are desperately in trouble; they’re hurting terribly. There’s just got to be a situation where somehow we help them,” he says with conviction.

And 50 years removed, he still sees the significance of the Olivet community coming together for chapel. “[Chapel] is the only way the University can create a spiritual sense in the community that is dynamic and universal,” he enthuses.

“The importance of being able to gather the group together is that you can actually affect the entire University in one moment. I believe God can change a person or a situation in one moment. I believe that,” he continues. “If you can’t get all the people there, then they’re not all going to be able to experience the moment.”

Moments like the one experienced that Thursday morning in chapel, as students flooded the altars and aisles responding to Chuck’s message.

He has a deep passion for these students — perhaps because he sees himself in them. And he hopes they leave Olivet knowing God cares about them and has a plan for their lives.

As Chuck reflects back on how he continues to learn this lesson in his own life, his voice changes to a surprisingly soft tone. “There’s a song that I have lived with through all of this, that I continue to repeat to myself today. ‘Be not dismayed, whate’er betide, God will take care of you.’ That’s been it. … God has taken care of me.”