Werner and Sheri Vavken were awarded the Crystal Bowl of Light Award during the 2017 Quest Ball to honor their many years of dedication to Valley Christian Schools. a dreaded thought. Who could replace Sheri as the founding Lead for the VCS Intercessory Prayer Team and Werner as the Founding Director of AMSE and the Quest Institute? When we discussed their plans three years before retirement, Werner and Sheri reassured me, “Don’t worry about us leaving,” they said. “God will call the successive AMSE Director and the next Lead Prayer Intercessor to take the programs to the next level when it’s His time.” I did my best to have faith, but I was not quickly convinced. Werner and Sheri were irreplaceable. Then one day in late spring 2017, Werner came by my office to announce, “I found my successor. I found our next AMSE Director.” Similarly, Sheri told me that God revealed to her our next Prayer Leader. In Danny Kim and Patty Favet, God blessed Valley Christian with two servants after the Vavkens’ own hearts. The seeds planted by Werner and Sheri continue to bear amazing fruit under the care of Danny in AMSE and Patty on the Prayer Intercessory Team.
Tragically, Werner suffered severe burns in an accident on February 1, 2020, and was called home to heaven on April 28 of that same spring. We at Valley Christian still grieve with Sheri and the rest of the Vavken family. I miss my friend, and our school misses Werner as we are grateful for his immense legacy. Still, our hope is in Christ, and we are confident that “to be absent from the body” is “to be present with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:8).” This cross, built by Werner and gifted to the Valley Christian Skyway Campus, has served as a remembrance and a beautiful centerpiece for VCS students since 2000.
The Vavkens were ready to see more of their own family: their son, (Joe ‘94), lives in Tennessee and their daughter, (Tammy ‘96), in Southern California. Werner and Sheri relocated to Temecula in 2017.
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