Rick Chromey
Creativity helped a boy
COVER STORY Rick Chromey has a lot to be thankful for and doesn’t hold back on praising his Savior. Despite the typical ups and downs of life, he’s remained a committed Christian since his childhood. (Photo by Logan Yott) Right: Rick Chromey (Photo by Paul Hoy)
By Gaye Bunderson Rick Chromey is evidence that no matter where you start out in life, it doesn’t need to define where you end up. Chromey is founder and president of an organization called MANNA! Educational Services International. It’s a non-profit geared toward training leaders, teachers, pastors and parents for spiritual leadership and Christian ministry (mannasolutions.org). It was a long path that led Chromey to his current calling. By his own description, he lived an interesting childhood. But anyone hearing about his younger years might choose a different word than “interesting” to describe Chromey’s experiences. “I was born in Lewistown, Montana. We were lower middle class and lived on the edge of poverty. My dad was a trucker, and my mom was a stay-at-home mom,” Chromey said, as he launched into his life story. He added, “Mom kept us in church.” If it all sounds like a pretty fortuitous upbringing, hold off on that assumption for a bit. “At one point my mom descended into drug and alcohol abuse and ran off with a guy,” Chromey said. “She abandoned us kids, and we didn’t know where she was for a long time. After about 6 months, she resurfaced in Houston, Texas.” Chromey went through some tough years growing up – he was only 12 when his mom left. Credit goes to his grandparents for stepping up when he needed them. “My grandmother was a great person and a wonderful Christian,” Chromey said, also praising his grandfather as a positive influence. “I grew up in church because of my grandparents.”
20 November / December 2020 | Christian Living
Many years of his life are defined by a phone conversation he once had with his mother. “Mom called one Easter Sunday to say ‘I love you and care about you’; I got on the phone and said, ‘I hate you and will until I die,’ and hung up the phone,” Chromey said. “I had a chip on my shoulder; I was an angry, bitter adolescent. Most people saw me as a talented, accomplished, GOOD church kid growing up. Few knew of my inner pain and private struggles.” Today, Chromey is a man with a doctorate, a published author, and well-traveled. But let’s backtrack a little to explore how he got there. “I graduated from high school and poured my energies into finding who I was,” Chromey said. He discovered he was a theater buff, for one thing. He started acting during his sophomore year and felt very comfortable onstage. “I was a part, a personality, and people laughed,” he said. He was also a good communicator and participated in competitive speech and drama. At age 17, for a competitive speech competition, he recited parts of Jonathan Edwards’ Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. In drama competition, he did a competitive piece about baseball. He took both presentations to the state level competition. The creativity in speech and theater were a godsend to the young Chromey, allowing him positive outlets for self-expression. Though only 5’4”, he also played football. Initially, he confesses, it was because he wanted to hit somebody. But a JV coach believed in him and worked to turn him into an athlete. That coach was not the only positive school influence on Chromey. “I was socially reclusive at first, but I had several teachers who ‘saw who Rick was’. Mom put that frame around my life. I had a
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