By Tracy McCormick-Dishman
editor@floridanewsline.com
When Larry Vollink prayed for God to place him in one church for 30 years, he never imagined his prayer would be answered in a way that would take him from Michigan to the halls of Congress and eventually to Mandarin, where he now calls home.
A graduate of South High School in Grand Rapids—the same school attended by President Gerald Ford and singer Al Green—Vollink has been a preacher for 50 years. As a young minister, he found himself moving between churches every few years, a pattern that troubled him deeply.
“I was a young preacher, and I had been at three different churches in 10 years,” Vollink recalled. “I prayed, ‘Lord, just please let me be in one church. I don’t like going to all these churches every two or three years.'”
Shortly after that prayer, Vollink joined the Army in 1980, beginning a journey that would span three decades of ministry to veterans.
During his 20 years of active duty service, Vollink served as an Army chaplain before retiring in 2001. But his calling to serve veterans was far from over. He became chaplain for the American Legion in Michigan, a role he held for another 20 years.
“While I was doing some of these things, I got asked to join the American Legion,” Vollink said. “Being in Michigan, I got to be the chaplain there, and I stayed doing that for like 20 years.”
His dedication didn’t go unnoticed. During President Obama’s administration, Vollink was appointed National Chaplain for the American Legion.
“Being a national chaplain, you get to do a lot of different things,” he explained. “You get to say the prayer in the Congress and the Senate. You get to lay the wreath. You get to do a lot of different things with being a chaplain. So I had a lot of beautiful privileges.”
In addition to his chaplain duties, Vollink worked for 10 years at the Veterans Administration in Michigan. He also served as Michigan Wing Chaplain for Civil Air Patrol, overseeing eight to ten chaplains across the state.
After giving 30 years to the American Legion, Vollink decided it was time to retire and move to Florida to be closer to his family. He now lives in Mandarin with his wife, Vicki, and attends Christ Church. He continues to wear his military hat proudly around the community.
It wasn’t until years later that a pastor friend helped Vollink realize the significance of his long-ago prayer.
“I went back to that church and told them about my prayer I prayed about 30 years ago,” Vollink said. “My friend, Pastor Fred, told me, ‘Larry, let me tell you something. God really did answer your prayer because your ministry has always been to veterans.'”
That realization became the title of Vollink’s chapter in a book about Michigan veterans: “And the Lord Answered His Prayer.”
“My church was being a chaplain for 30 years with veterans,” Vollink said. “God answered my prayer. He sure did.”
