Calvin Mourns the Loss of a Student

January 22, 2007

A precious member of the Calvin College community has passed away at the
tender age of 18.

Melissa Decator, a Calvin freshman from Byron Center, was involved in a car
accident on 28th Street in Grand Rapids on Sunday, January 21 and died as a
result of injuries suffered in the crash which police are still investigating
(alcohol was not a factor).

The daughter of Lori Decator of Byron Center and Michael Decator of Little
Rock, Arkansas, Melissa Decator was a 2006 graduate of Calvin Christian High
School in Grandville.

She also was an aspiring social worker, who had been stirred to help others
after summer missions trips to Guatemala in 2005 and 2006 with Ivanrest
Christian Reformed Church.

At Calvin, Decator lived in Rooks Hall where her friends describe her as
bubbly, energetic and a faithful daughter of Jesus Christ.

In fact, on Facebook, the social networking website used by a majority of
Calvin students, Decator belonged to several groups, including one called
"Jesus Is My Savior and I Am Not Ashamed!!!" and another called "The Great
Biblical Marathon" (a group of 34 students from around the country dedicated to
reading through the Bible in one year).

The passage for that Great Biblical Marathon group yesterday was Exodus 19-21
which is set in a time three months after the Israelites left Egypt. Chapter
20 includes the giving by God of the 10 commandments to the Israelites, while
chapter 19 includes God's promise to his children. Indeed in the fourth and
fifth verse of that chapter God says: "... I carried you on eagles' wings and
brought you to myself. Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out
of all nations you will be my treasured possession."

Decator, say her friends, was one of God's treasured possessions. And today
on her Facebook website friends and family are testifying to the vivid witness
a girl they called "Mel Head" left in her too-short time on this earth.

"You should have seen how full the waiting room was with people who love you,"
wrote one friend. Another added: "You had such a strong faith that everyone
could see!! Hope you liked Revelation 19 tonight; we sang it for you!!"

Still another friend said: "I got the joy of living with this girl two rooms
down in the same hall! She was an absolute joy to have around. I will never
forget her beautiful smiling face, and most of all her passionate love for
Jesus Christ." And yet another friend said simply: "You taught me what it
really means to love Jesus as my personal Savior. Do you fully understand the
impact you had on my life? I hope you do Mel Head."

Decator was nearing the end of her first Interim at Calvin (the three-week
term in January during which students take just one class). She was taking a
course called A Christian Response to Racism.

Her instructor, Calvin's Jacque Rhodes, says Decator was very engaged with the
subject matter and believes her student's experience last summer in Guatemala
had opened her eyes to a bigger world around her.

"She will be missed," says Rhodes.

Calvin plans to remember Decator today in a 10 am chapel service at the
college. Funeral arrangements and further memorial service plans are still
pending.

For more see http://www.calvin.edu/news/releases/2006-07/decator.htm

For video footage of the Ivanrest CRC trip to Guatemala see
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=1328466792

-end-
Received on Mon Jan 22 08:48:16 2007