Labor of Love takes Pete to the Street
HUNTLEY — “Start something and stay dedicated to it”— that’s the lesson Peter Unverzagt, age 64, learned from his father while growing up. It’s part of the reason he has spent nearly every afternoon for the past five years as a street preacher in the Huntley community.
If you’ve driven past Deicke Park in Huntley, then perhaps you’ve seen him: standing with a cross and an American flag, waving to people as they travel along Highway 47.
When asked what moved him to start his street ministry in 2018, Unverzagt isn’t sure. “It was a blind faith act,” he says. “I didn’t fully understand myself why I was doing it, to be honest. But then I grew to love doing it.”
“I heard church attendance was way down,” says Unverzagt. “I thought, what if I got out there and wave to the people and try to cheer them up in a way? Then, if they have questions about the Bible, I’ll try to answer them and give prayer.”
Unverzagt, a resident of Hampshire, bikes the six miles to and from Huntley each day. His afternoon street preaching sessions are bookended by a morning and evening shift for his job working at a motel.
“My legs get awful tired some days,” he says. “Between the motel and the park, I’m on them for 12 hours sometimes”
Unverzagt sometimes walks backwards to soothe his sore leg muscles. But street preaching comes with other hazards, too. He’s endured rain, snow, cold, heat, and bad air quality. Once, someone shot at him with a BB pellet.
“It bounced away and I couldn’t find it,” he says. “I wasn’t going to make a big deal out of it anyway because I try to stay away from the negative and accentuate the positive, like the song.”
Growing up, Unverzagt’s family came to Chicago to move in with relatives while his father recovered from a serious leg injury. He says he was deeply touched by the kindness shown to him, especially by his grandmother and great-aunt, as well as the head nun at Our Lady of Mercy Catholic School in Chicago, who took a special interest in him and tutored him to help him with schoolwork.
As a young man, a street preacher in downtown DesPlaines made a lasting impression on Unverzagt. ”He would preach every day out there. I thought, what strong faith he has. I heard he was a rich man and didn’t have to do it, but he did it just to show his love. He was a big part of my influence.”
Gary Pokorny, a Del Webb resident since 2016, likens Unverzagt to a good marketing campaign that seeps into your subconscious with repeated exposure. “His handheld sign and welcoming wave just sunk in over time,” he says. “When I would drive by and he wasn’t stationed there, it seemed out of the ordinary.”
“He told me that Jesus always stood when preaching and he is going to follow that lead,” says Pokorny, who said he and his wife Laurie finally felt compelled to approach him for a conversation. “His story has certainly inspired us to find our purpose and act on it.”
Unverzagt says he’s met many kind people and had interesting conversations while street preaching at Deicke Park. One gentleman told him, “I guess you’ll never know the kind of influence you’re really having out here until you get to heaven.”
“That’s so true, but that’s not why I’m doing it,” says Unverzagt. “It’s a labor of love more than anything.”
Unverzagt plans to continue street preaching as long as his health allows, and hopes others will be inspired, too. “My dream is to have other people in other cities wave and take time out to show their love for other people and all humanity. Our center has to be on Jesus. If we stay focused on him, then we’ll be okay.”
