Barry and Gayle Huebner both grew up in sizable families, and although they didn’t necessarily expect to have a large family of their own, their struggles to get pregnant were disappointing. They were married in their mid-20s but spent over a decade together without children. However, both Barry and Gayle were passionate about fostering a familial environment in their community. In their one-bedroom house in the north suburbs of Chicago, they frequently hosted family, friends, friends of friends and, at times, practical strangers.
“We often joked that people would show up with a pile of kids and broken-down cars, which was just fine for us,” Barry reflects. “Gayle would cook a big meal, and I would fix the cars.”
Gayle adds, “At the time, it helped focus us. That was our way of expanding our borders and fulfilling those things in our life that we longed for.”
Eventually, Barry and Gayle welcomed two daughters to their family, Elizabeth ’13 and Christina ’17. They cherished the time together as a family of four, but they were still very intentional about opening their home to whoever needed a meal or a bed.
In 1996 Barry accepted a new management role within Midwest Transit and, with no prior connections to the area, the family moved to Bourbonnais and began to establish new roots. Because the Huebners came from a larger city environment, the opportunities in a much smaller community felt a little limited, but they were confident in their decision. A member from their former church suggested they check out College Church to get connected with people in the community.
“Almost right away, Gayle volunteered with children’s ministry at church, and I had the opportunity to co-host a home group for college students,” Barry says.
Home groups were a unique small-group ministry for Olivet students to connect weekly with each other and local families during the late 1990s and early 2000s. After Barry co-hosted with another individual for a year, the Huebners decided to open their home for Sunday night gatherings. Gayle’s children’s ministry schedule still conflicted with the home group time, so Barry led the group of sophomores alone for a year. The Huebners didn’t know it then, but that decision would lead to 16 consecutive years of college-aged ministry.
Barry and Gayle did more than just open their home for a Bible study; they invited students to integrate into their family. When their first home group of students was entering their junior year, Gayle heard that most of the group would be living in campus apartments, and she was appalled at the idea that the students wouldn’t be able to eat on campus.
“I thought they’d all starve,” Gayle says with a laugh. “So, I decided to cook a big dinner for everyone when they came over on Sunday nights. The numbers quickly doubled, and it was a long time before anyone admitted that Ludwig was still an option for dinner.”
On numerous occasions, individual students would linger to chat with Barry or Gayle or come early for a quiet place to study or do their laundry — when it wasn’t free yet on campus. When Elizabeth and Christina were students at Olivet, they both brought over groups of friends for pool days, movie nights, Super Bowl parties, costume-making for the Candy Costume Party at Olivet and, of course, meaningful conversations over a delicious meal.
Sometimes, students stayed at the Huebners’ house for a month over the summer while doing a campus job. Other times, the family opened their home to individuals who were working on a master’s program at Olivet or who were starting their careers in the area and needed a long-term place to stay.
“Two of our core values are faith and education,” Barry says, “and Olivet’s mission lines up with those things perfectly. Over many years of hosting students and alumni, we saw Olivet through the eyes of the kids in our homes.”
Gayle adds, “Having Olivet students or young alumni live with us was something that just kind of started. But once people figured it out, we had people ask all the time about the possibility of living with us.”
The house rules were simple: If you were staying, you were part of the family. That meant eating dinner together, taking care of your own dishes, contributing around the house and being respectful about when you were coming and going.
“Why we continued to host people for so many years is because we saw the end result,” Gayle reflects. “We watched that first group graduate and saw the doctors-, nurses-, psychologists- and teachers-to-be cross the stage. We knew their faith would take them even further than their academic preparation.”
From students’ varying majors to their varying passions and interests, the Huebners saw it all throughout the years.
“Every four years, a different generation of kids came through our house,” Barry says. “We went from hosting the practical jokers to the social activists — and we saw how the University responded to different situations through their perspectives. Most importantly, over time spent with each group, we got to see the kids’ faith grow.”
Barry is retired, and he and Gayle now spend a significant amount of time with their own grandchildren. But they still love to host scores of their bonus “kids” at their lake house in Michigan and during Homecoming reunion years when families return to Olivet. The first of the home group “grandchildren” has completed their first year in college, and many more are starting their college search. The Huebners anticipate that at least a few will choose Olivet and, with no firm plans in place, they are ready to open their home for another few classes of Olivet students who need a home away from home.
“It doesn’t have to be formal, and you don’t have to host 15 at a time,” Gayle says about how to invest in the lives of University students. “If you meet a student, offer to take them for lunch. It’s as easy as that. The important thing is to invest the time in people. You get back what you invest. And we’ve received a lot.”
Read the entire “Doing Something Good Together” issue here.
