| About |
What is TRU? 
TRU Student Ministries is the youth ministry of Life Changers International Church. Join us every Wednesday night @ 7pm for TRU. We've got something going on every week here at TRU-from our Live DJ-to pool tables-to arcade machines-to our state of the art gym-to our very own TRU Grill if you're hungry. This is the place to be every Wednesday night @ 7pm. So come and experience AWESOME WORSHIP and a RELEVANT WORD every week here at TRU Student Ministries. We'll see you there!
Services and Times:
Hoffman Estates: Every Wednesday @ 7pm - 2500 Beverly Road, Hoffman Estates, IL 60192
Chicago: Sundays @ 11:30 am - Whitney Young High School, 1431 West Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60611
Kaio (young adults): Every 2nd & 4th Friday @ 8:30 pm - TRU auditorium - 2500 Beverly Road, Hoffman Estates, IL 60192
Our Youth Directors - Daniel & Heather Gray
After being
introduced to drugs and alcohol at a young age, Daniel Gray spent many years
making the "wrong choices." Addicted to a life filled with all the wrong
choices, Daniel could be found on the streets selling drugs or throwing parties
at drug houses.
One
morning, after hours of partying, Daniel decided to drive his car while heavily
intoxicated by alcohol, marijuana and prescription pills. He made it
about a mile down the highway when he lost consciousness, veered off the road,
hit a median, flipped into oncoming traffic and landed in a ditch close to a
large creek. When paramedics arrived, Daniel wasn't breathing, he had no
pulse-he was dead. He was rushed into an ambulance where the paramedics
miraculously revived him on the way to the hospital.
Later
the next day, Daniel found himself in a hospital bed confused as to what
happened. He was informed by the nurses and doctors there that he was
"lucky to be alive." However this near-death experience wasn't enough for
Daniel to change his lifestyle. He fell right back into the life he
knew-a life filled with drugs, alcohol, sex, money, guns, and violence.
Six
months later, Daniel witnessed one of his closest friends end his own life with
a gunshot to the head. Daniel was left feeling alone and depressed.
It was in this moment, the darkest point of his life that Daniel realized why
he didn't care that he had died in his accident. He didn't care that he
died, because he didn't realize he had "a reason to live". He realized
his friend committed suicide, not because he didn't have a reason to live-he
just never found that reason.
Daniel now shares his life experiences to motivate
young people to make the "right choices" with their lives. Daniel shares often,
"you can't change yesterday, but you can change today." Daniel and his lovely wife, Heather, are the youth directors of TRU Student Ministries at Life Changers
International Church, under the direction and leadership of Pastor Gregory
Dickow. Daniel and Heather, reside in the Chicagoland area of the great state of Illinois.
Our Senior Pastors - Gregory & Grace Dickow
A native of Detroit, Michigan, Gregory Dickow
was "born again" at age seventeen after attending a Bible study, a
pivotal experience which ended the chaotic period of his youth. His spiritual
journey continued at Western Michigan University, where he immersed himself in
God's word and created an on-campus church. He later spent summers on the
mission fields of Asia, sharing his faith, building churches, and training
young men and women in Christian leadership.
Pastor Dickow and his wife, Grace, founded
Life Changers International Church in 1993. From its modest start in the
gymnasium of an elementary school in Elk Grove, Illinois, the
non-denominational church grew rapidly and attracted a dynamic, ethnically-diverse
congregation. The Pastor's unique vision led to the continued expansion of the
church and to a spiritual renaissance that would eventually embrace the needs
of thousands in the Chicagoland area.
In the fall of 2004, Gregory Dickow
Ministries realized one of its dreams, opening its new world headquarters in
Hoffman Estates, Illinois, a 160,000 square-foot facility located on 30 acres,
incorporating a 3,000 seat sanctuary, a 400 seat World Prayer Center, a 1,000
seat multipurpose gymnasium, a leadership training center, and a fully-equipped
radio and TV studio.
The $30 million campus also houses the Valeo
Academy, a dynamic day school from kindergarten through twelfth grade. With
Grace Dickow as Principal, the school focuses on an individualized approach to
a classic curriculum, educating the next generation to walk in the character
and power of God.
Gregory and Grace Dickow consider their five children the greatest reward of their lives.
What We Believe
- We believe in one God, revealed as
the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
- We believe in the absolute
inspiration of the Holy Scripture, given by the Holy Spirit.
- We believe man was made in the
image of God and is the crown of His creation. Man is, prior to salvation,
by reason of the fall, spiritually depraved and alienated from his
Creator.
- We believe justification is by
grace through faith through our Lord's blood covenant sacrifice on
Calvary.
- We believe all of God's people are
to be buried and resurrected with Christ through water baptism, following
conversion.
- We believe in the priesthood of the believer and that all people born of God have equal status before, and direct access to their Lord.
- We believe that baptism in the
Holy Spirit is an endowment of power subsequent to conversion, given by
God to anoint the believer for sanctification and evangelism, thus
fulfilling the Great Commission to preach the gospel to all creation and
establish God's covenant in the earth.
- We believe God is on your side. We believe you can make it!
TRU Values
FAITH- We believe God for the impossible
VISION- We see what God sees for our generation
PASSION- We pursue God with everything that is within us
PRAYER- We live a life of constant communication with God
RELATIONSHIPS- We love, encourage and serve those around us every
day
EXCELLENCE- We give God our very best in everything we do
