Lou Gehrig's Disease and Loss
a conversation with Ellis Goldstein
Imagine you have one child, a beautiful daughter whose life reflects her deep love for Jesus. You and your wife work for a Christian organization, offering the help and hope of the Gospel, seeing every day as an opportunity to encourage and love others. And then you get that phone call that is every parent’s nightmare. Your only child, 17 years old, has been in a fatal car accident. Fast forward twenty years and your wife gets a diagnosis that not only will take her life but turn her last years into a place of great anguish. How would you respond? Ellis Goldstein had to answer these questions, the most recent, when he learned his wife’s diagnosis of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, better known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. This thoughtful conversation between two men who share the grief of losing a child will challenge listeners with their responses to grief and Ellis’ response to the illness and death of his beloved Colleen.
Biography of Ellis Goldstein
Ellis Goldstein is a Jewish believer who met his Messiah at Penn State University. He has a Bachelor of Architecture and a Master of Arts in Biblical Studies. Since 1973 he has served as a staff member with Cru, the US ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ and has lived on personally raised support. Ellis’ wife, Colleen, was also a Cru staff member until her death in 2018.
His first 18 years of ministry were in New England where he helped pioneer new campus ministries. He also served in a leadership capacity for the northeast helping staff members raise their personal support. Since 1991 he has been the Director of Ministry Partner Development, and is responsible for the support development for Cru staff members serving in the United States and internationally.
Ellis has trained over 15,000 missionaries with Cru and other mission agencies in the United States and overseas. His driving passion is to equip and inspire Christian workers to be Christ-centered, fully funded and financially faithful. He regularly consults with Christian organizations to help them create fund development training for their missionaries.