Seussical: The Musical
EverGreen Ministries will present Seussical: The Musical on March 23 and 24 at 7:00 PM at EverGreen. Join the Cat in the Hat, Horton the Elephant, Gertrude McFuzz, JoJo Who, the Grinch, and many other Dr. Seuss characters for an evening of free (and we do mean completely free!), family friendly entertainment. Your free tickets are available by clicking here. Call the church office at 669-7700 for more information.
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New Church Planting Leader Appointed*
By Ben Van Houten
Christian Reformed Home Missions has appointed church planter Rev. Larry Doonrbos as leader for the agency’s Church Planting and Development Leadership Team (CPDLT).
Doornbos is the founding and senior pastor of EverGreen Ministries in Hudsonville, Mich. He will continue to serve in that role while working half-time for Home Hissions. As CPDLT leader, he will lead a team that seeks to help plant 30 churches each year in North America, help train and evaluate future leaders, and work on the new joint CRC and Reformed Church in America Church Multiplication Initiative.
“I am looking forward to working with [Home Missions] Director Moses Chung and the Home Missions team across North America as we pursue a vibrant future for the CRCNA (Christian Reformed Church of North America) by renewing communities together,” says Doornbos.
“Larry’s gifts, experiences in church planting, and leadership capabilities make him the right fit for this job, both now and for the future,” says Chung.
Both Chung and Doornbos see the CPDLT as instrumental in helping to cast a vision for the entire denomination in participating in God’s mission in North America.
Doornbos is excited about the intersection of the church planting team with the new Church Planting Institute at Calvin Theological Seminary. ”I see this as a great opportunity for deep theological discussion, conversation about missions, and sharing knowledge on the best ways to plant churches in North America and the world,” he said.
With support and commitment from the leadership, staff, and members of EverGreen to live passionately for Christ, Doornbos and his wife, Linda, have enjoyed watching EverGreen grow and develop for the past 18 years. Larry also served Rehoboth CRC in New Mexico for eight years.
Larry and Linda have two children.
* Reprinted from The Banner
Read More‘Had to Do Something’: Church Donates Kits for Joplin*
On a quiet Friday morning, laughter filled the hallways of EverGreen Ministries as two groups of women and children competed with each other in packing hygiene kits.
“This group over here needs more toothpaste!” called out a woman from one of the groups. As Tiffany Louzan—one of the women who organized the project—rounded the corner with a box in her arms, she teased the other group. “Seems like these ladies over here are faster than you!”
“You must be paying them more,” another woman laughed.
This type of light-hearted conversation perfectly represents the group of church people who enthusiastically packed over 850 lbs of products into 815 hygiene kits for EverGreen Ministries’ “Loving our Neighbors in Joplin” project.
EverGreen Ministries—which is located in Hudsonville, Mich.—prides itself on being service-minded ministry. Their numerous projects include care packages for U.S. soldiers, missions trips to renovate orphanages, and a large counseling ministry. Thus it was no surprise that when the news coverage of the destruction in Joplin reached the church, they sprang into action. “I saw everything on the news, and had to do something,” Tiffany said. “We’re a big church—I knew we could respond.”
Tiffany called her friend Wendi Richards—who also attends EverGreen Ministries—and the two women got the ball rolling. Wendi connected with International Aid, and they helped them know what was needed in hygiene kits and how to get the products. According to Wendi, the “Loving our Neighbors in Joplin” project is the largest disaster response project the church has undertaken—however, it was a natural thing to do for a congregation so focused on serving those who are in need. “It’s just the way churches should be,” she said.
Thank you to everyone at Evergreen Ministries who donated to the “Loving our Neighbors in Joplin” project and helped assemble the kits!
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*Reprinted from the International Aid website
Read MoreEach Breath is a Gift*
These words were not always in the thoughts and mind of Reuben. But by God’s grace working through His people, they are now a constant reassurance in his life.
Reuben was born in Minnesota, but he has lived in Jenison since the age of five with his dad, mom, and older sister. He was a very energetic child who found an outlet in sports. Since church attendance in his family was sporadic at best, he began to rely on himself for whatever he wanted or needed. He became a self-driven, self-willed people pleaser, often trying to please the wrong people.
As happens far too often, Reuben was introduced to alcohol in middle school. He liked the feeling of empowerment and self-confidence that it gave him and this social lubricant helped him to become the life of every party.
Hard work was an important value in his family, so Reuben once had three jobs in the summer where he was working 80 hours per week. He had become an excellent swimmer and had received a swimming scholarship to attend Eastern Michigan University. He attended college mainly to swim, also realizing during this time that he had a serious problem with drinking.
An internship through EMU brought him to Mackinac Island one summer and it was where he met Sarah, his future wife. She accepted him for who he was. However, he felt that something was missing from their lives and he wouldn’t or couldn’t deal with it.
An internship for Sarah took them to Washington D.C. and there they were married. After they had a child, they realized that they could not afford the high cost of living in D.C., so they moved back to this area where they both found work. They also bought a house at this time. The only thing that didn’t change for Reuben was his drinking. By now it helped to numb his growing feelings of anger, resentment, and bitterness. He knew that he needed to be more responsible, but when and how?
Since Reuben had only been interested in swimming and not in his studies, when he could no longer swim for EMU, he had dropped out of school. Sarah had always been tolerant of his behavior, but finally started to “pull in the leash.” It was then that he enrolled in Aquinas College to get his teaching certificate.
The dark side of Reuben’s life finally took over, however. He found himself lost in a subdivision, sitting behind the steering wheel with the car running. It was at that moment that he realized he could no longer help himself and entered an out patient therapy program. He stayed sober for one year, but there were no other changes to his life. Since his marriage was deteriorating, he returned to drinking, drinking heavily this time.
Reuben remembers that date in July well. He had been painting in his garage. The next thing he remembers is someone waking him up while he was lying on the floor with a paintbrush in his hand. His wife and two kids had left the house, but not before she had called a mutual recovering friend to come over. The friend helped Reuben into his pickup, took him to an empty parking lot, and asked him point blank what he was going to do.
Reuben was alone in every sense of the word. Continuing to drink meant death and stopping meant he needed help. His first recovery meeting was at South Club in Grand Rapids. It was when he gave his life and will to God and accepted the reality of his situation that things began to make sense. He believes that when becoming sober 10% is a change on the outside and 90% is a change on the inside.
Though Sarah had been raised in a church environment and had taken her faith seriously, it is only in the past two years that both of them have become active Christians and are enjoying a great marriage with their two teenagers. Reuben realizes that all he has been given — good brothers in AA, attending meetings, talking to other alcoholics, sponsoring someone else — all of these he needs to pass on to others.
Work is still important to Reuben and he has been regularly employed by a distribution company. He n0w belongs to a recovery group that meets at EverGreen Ministries, where he was warmly welcomed at his first meeting. He is involved in a Bible study group where he is held accountable by his peers. He is filled with gratitude and joy and realizes that each breath he takes is a gift from God since a miracle has happened in his life.
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*Reprinted from Ministries That Matter
Read MorePsalm 23
This story comes from Deb, one of our Wonder years workers.
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On March 13th I found myself choking back the tears as I prayed with our young ones. You see, each month I have the privilege of teaching our 4, 5, and 6 year old children in Wonder Years their scripture memory verses. We have been learning Psalm 23 since January. I came to class this particular Sunday with a heavy heart that was still broken over the recent news of the earthquake and tsunami devastation in Japan. Before I began my teaching lesson, I asked the students if they knew what terrible thing happened this week in the world. Immediately many of them raised their hands. I then felt the Holy Spirit nudging me to pray with our little ones, so I asked them to repeat after me as I prayed Psalm 23 to the Lord on behalf of the people of Japan.
It went something like this…”Dear Father I know that you are the Shepherd of the people of Japan and I just pray right now that You bless them with some quiet waters and green pastures. I also pray that You restore their broken souls and that You lead them in Your paths of righteousness. May they know that even though they may walk through the valley of the shadow of death that they do not need to be afraid because You are with them. I thank You that You are their comfort and that You love them deeply. Amen.”
I share this with you not only because it was a special moment where I felt the Holy Spirit present, but also because I want you to know that at EverGreen we seek to teach even the “wee” children to be passionate about Scripture memory and prayer as they grow in their walk with our Lord.
Read MorePastor Terry and Alive Church
A couple of years ago, a small group of people in Jenison started to become more aware of the 30,000 plus people in this area that are not in any church on Sunday morning. They began to think about their responsibilities to these people and how they could make a difference. They began to hold meetings at the community building in Hager Park and chose a Lead Team. 60-70 people of all ages come to these meetings.
Last December a call was extended to Pastor Terry Scholten from First Jenison Christian Reformed Church, to become the new pastor of Alive. He accepted that call and preached his farewell service on January 9, 2011. On February 6th he was installed as the first pastor of Alive during a worship held at Ridgewood CRC.
This service was lead by the Rev. Joel Boot of Ridgewood with Justine VanKovering, a teen from Alive, as the Lector. About eight months prior to this date, Boot had selected 1 Corinthians 9:15-23 as his text for Sunday. Providentially, the words in this chapter talk about the rights of an apostle. In his message, Boot spoke about how Pastor Terry needs to be like Paul and “became all things to all men so that…I might serve some.”
At the conclusion of the message, Rev. Boot communicated the duties of a pastor to Pastor Terry and after an affirmative response to this calling, there was a laying on of hands by representatives of the Classis Georgetown Ministries Board, Home Missions, and any other elders and pastors that were present. The Rev. Al Mulder, representing Christian Reformed Home Missions, shared words of encouragemnet from John 17 and then advised Pstor Terry that every now and then he is to be called Apostle Terry to be reminded that he is…one sent with a mission.
Most of the members of Alive were sitting in three pews across from each other near the center of the sanctuary. Pastor Terry asked them to stand and he then commissioned them as missionaries to Jenison for the more than 30,000 people. This was followed by the request for everyone else to stand, reach towards the Alive group, and lay hands on them.
The Alive congregation is grateful for the communion set that was received as a gift from Ridgewood, as well as all of the other support and encouragement that has been given them from their mother church. They presently have a facilities team looking at sites for their new meeting place, and after much hard work, are planning to launch worship services this coming fall.
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