Celebration Story From Sherral Carter

"Show Me, Don't Tell Me" as was published in

the Ministry That Matters Brochure

My first memories of church are when I was a young child. My mother didn't drive and my father didn't attend church so sometimes the rest of the family would walk to the church that was closest to our home. When I was around ten years of age my family moved to a small town in southern Illinois where the local Baptist church had a bus ministry. The church members would go door to door and ask if anyone would like a ride to church on Sunday mornings. My sister and I thought that this would be fun so we agreed to be picked up. After a short time my sister decided that it was not fun and stopped attending, but by this time I could already see Jesus in the lives of these people and my life was forever changed. Since my family did not attend church, this church family became like a family to me. There Christians were kind and caring and the truth of the gospel was taught. It was here that I became a Christian, was baptized, and attended church until going away to college.

After high school I worked for a year and a half to save enough money to attend Christ For the Nations, a Christian college in Dallas that was recommended by a friend who had gone there. I sought help from God in making this decision and also sought advice from my Christian friends. Several weeks after arriving in Dallas, I met my future husband, Terry, at this college. He came from a similar background so we had a lot in common.

Terry was born in this area but his family later moved a couple of times, and after college, marriage, and a few more years in Dallas, we decided to move back to Michigan. We started attending one of the mega churches in this area and were there for a few years. But we felt it was time to make a change. One of our neighborhood families had two children of about the same age as two of our three children. This family attended EverGreen and eventually invited us to visit. It was here that we again felt like we were at home with family.

We have been at EverGreen for about ten years and I have been serving as Office Administrator for about four and a half years. Another big part of our lives is our involvement with the orphanage in Colima, Mexico. This program is entirely self supporting and has connected the people here at EverGreen with the people that operate the orphanage. I was able to join Terry on a mission trip last year and was overwhelmed by the love and care that God's people, both here and in Mexico, have shown to these children.

A particular verse that has meant a lot to me throughout the years is found in Jeremiah 29: 11-13, "For I know the plans that I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart."

Terry and I continue to share family life with our three grown children. We also enjoy serving and worshiping with our EverGreen family. Finally, we can now share our Christianity with my parents. Three years ago they became Christians and were baptized. Some neighbors had invited them to church.

Celebration Story From the EGM Sportspersons Group

On April 15, 2010, EverGreen Ministries Sportspersons held our 4th annual Spring Fest. There were three parts to this year's event. First, we started with a turkey shotgun sight in; we set up two shooting lanes and had targets at 20 and 40 yards in each lane. We even had our church's outreach director shoot several times and she is not an outdoor sportsperson, so it was nice to see her come out and give it a try. The big draw to this event? How many people can go to work the next day and say they shot their shotgun at church?

Then we went inside and started the second part of our evening: Jim Boice from Rod Benson's pro staff presented a great lesson on turkey hunting. And finally we had Franik Siemon from Michigan State Seed Solutions talk to us about food plots. It amazes me how much I learn every time I attend one of these seminars!

The Hudsonville Farmers' Co-op, Grand Valley Sporting Goods, and Standish Seeds all set up tables and displayed their products.

We had a total of 55 attendees, including 29 people who were neither members of our church nor presenters. We had asked the EGM congregation to help us by inviting neighbors, friends, and co-workers. The Co-op also highly promoted the event.

We made sure everyone went home with a prize - we gave away over $300.00 in prizes - and didn't leave hungry.

Through every event we continue to grow with new friendships and associations with those in our community. We will continue to build on these relationships and continue to share our love of the outdoors with those both in and out of our church family.

Celebration Story From AA

"Show Me, Don't Tell Me" as was published

in the Ministries That Matter brochure.

This story begins in Wyoming, Michigan, where Dan De Vries was born and attended and graduated from the local schools. At the age of nine, he had his first experience with alcohol. Even through he was involved in sports and served a stint as class president, he describes alcohol as giving confidence to an ego-maniac with an inferiority complex. He has good memories of his childhood, despite never attending church. God was occasionally mentioned in his home, but he had no understanding of what that meant.

Dan graduated from a local college and married soon after. He and his wife were planning to start a family, but could not have children. His wife suggested that if they went to church, maybe this would help. Mostly to please her, he went through all of the formalities of church with her, including getting baptized, but still no children came along. All this time, alcohol was his constant companion.

Eventually Dan's drinking caught up with him and he spent time in a local detox unit. It was here he first met Pastor Tom...Pastor Tom counseled both Dan and his wife, but by that time there was so much damage to the relationship it was beyond repair.

This drove Dan back to drinking and drugs. For the next eight months while he was out of work, Dan managed to drink every single day. This caused him to become suicidal and he went to his parents' home to say good-by. Providentially, he had forgotten that his dad worked the second shift and only his mother was at home. This brought him to have a meltdown with his mother.

Back when Dan and his wife had started attending church, his parents did too. So his mother called her pastor for help with her son. Her pastor said that he could not help, but referred her to someone that he thought could. As God had planned, this someone was again Pastor Tom, who soon realized that Dan needed far more help than ever he could provide, so he [Dan] was sent to a long term rehabilitation facility in northern Michigan.

Earlier in Dan's life he enjoyed a successful career as a loan officer. Now he felt bankrupt in every way humanly possible. He also decided that he could not win the battle for sobriety. He recalled having a 401k fund at the bank and figured that this was his ticket to getting out of rehab. He called the bank and made arrangements to get the money, and then just waited for the check. Again God intervened and the check went to his parents. When he found this out he lost all hope and fell down on his knees and asked if there was a God, if He would help him. Suddenly Dan was overwhelmed with peace. The next thing was to ask Satan to get out of his life. His sister had become a Christian and he called her to come up and meet with him. She willingly did this, and explained that this was something bigger than he was and he needed to get a sponsor to help him win the battle, so he called Pastor Tom. Dan did not believe in Jesus Christ and didn't want to, but Pastor Tom told him to pray every day and begin attending church, which he did. God had started a change in Dan's life, but it was so slow that he hardly knew it. After nine months of living right, he once more lost his battle. He devised a plan to end his life by taking a train to Reno. Again, by the grace of God, his plans were uncovered. Pastor Tom and Dan's sister and brother-in-law drove to Chicago to do an intervention during a scheduled two hour layover. His battle was not over, but the end of it was getting closer.

On January 15, 2004, Dan has his last drink. He began to attend a recovery program, where he met Judi, now his wife and mother of his son. She has been a constant source of strength and understanding which allows him to devote more time to his recovery program. He has two stepchildren, owns a home, has a new job, and Jesus Christ is now his personal Savior. The family attends EverGreen Ministries and is involved in children's ministries and Kid's Hope. He sponsors six people attending AA programs. "Show me, don't tell me" has become his personal motto, thanks to an old AA member he refers to as "Old Joe."

Dan is forever grateful to AA for pointing him to a higher power, to EverGreen for naming that power as Jesus Christ, and to Pastor Tom and to his sponsor Denny W. for being his mentors. He encourages anyone with addictions to seek help and if you can't find a recovery program to call Pastor Tom at EverGreen...

Celebration Story From Melissa VandenHoek

Recently the Jenison Public Schools Board of Education recognized and honored Kids Hope USA for the impact it has made at Bauerwood Elementary School. They recognized one of our terrific mentors, Myra VanMersbergen. Myra was nominated by her Kids Hope USA student, Nicole, and Mrs. Chatfield for volunteering. Myra was recognized for the commitment she has made in being a Kids Hope USA mentor, as well as being a key helper at school. As I went in support of Myra, I felt the Spirit wash over me as I witnessed what a close relationship Myra and Nicole share. Kids Hope USA could not exist and flourish in our community without dedicated volunteers. I cannot say enough what an honor it is for me to know each mentor, the awesome kids, the staff at Bauerwood Elementary School, and everyone who makes Kids Hope USA happen. Praise to our awesome God!

Celebration Story From Anonymous.

God has been so good and faithful to us throughout the years. We have always been taught to tithe. Early in our marriage we went to a class on finances and we were taught to set up a separate checking account that is used only for contributions to kingdom work. Each paycheck we automatically deposited our tithe to that checking account so it was out of sight and not "available" for us to spend on daily living expenses. This was such a help. Never did we "miss" that money because it wasn't in with our other monies to spend. It was always a blessing at the end of the month to write out checks to church and to other ministries and end up with a $1.00 balance (enough to keep the account open until the next deposit).

As years went on we would add more than just the tithe. At the end of each year, we were always surprised at how much we were able to give; and it always blessed our hearts. Granted, there were years that it was much easier to give than others depending on our income, but nonetheless, we never have less than 15%.

With the way the economy has been hit in these recent years, our income has decreased drastically. Working or not working, we have always committed to giving at least a tithe to the Lord...no questions asked. We have been so blessed by His faithfulness, that we dared not be faithful to Him in return.

We sat down to get ready to submit our information to our accountant for the years income tax and started to tally our giving this past year. With our income cut over 60% we were still able to give more than 20% to kingdom work. On paper our budget shows that we should not be making it. We have made cuts, of course, in our lifestyle, but we still live a good life compared to the rest of the world. Our budget shows that we should definitely be in a deficit, bet we are not. Our expenses are greater than our income, but each month our bills are paid and we are debt free. How? We don't know, but we are!

Honestly, when work was cut and income drastically reduced it was tempting to ask God, "Why?" when we have been faithful givers all this time. But, we reminded ourselves it is not for us to ask God, "Why?". He owes us nothing, in fact, it is all His in the first place. He has allowed us to live on 80% of the income He has provided. It's not us giving Him 20% of what we have earned. It's all His! Do we wish we had a greater income? Of course! It makes us cry sometimes thinking what we would like to be giving and how we wish we could give more if only we had more to give. We would love to go on mission trips, to support those who are going on mission trips, etc. but right now that is not what God is allowing us to do. A few weeks ago Pastor Larry talked about the two prodigal sons. It's so easy to think we have done everything right and that we are "owed" a good and a comfortable lifestyle because we have done everything that has been asked of us and sometimes even more. Wow are we wrong in that thinking! Have we given over and above our tithe to earn "favor" from Him? Sometimes, sorry to say. But, in spite of our wrong motives at times, God has proven His faithfulness over and over again. So, for now, we will continue to give and be surprised at His faithfulness, not ours!

Celebration Story From Brandi McBride

I was just thinking about this in church the other day and haven't been able to get it out of my mind. I feel that I should share it and maybe help someone else in this study that we're going through. Recently our small group members have shared with each other that it's been a challenge to keep up with the readings. We've discussed how life sometimes gets in the way and it's just a struggle to do it. Then we feel guilty for not doing the readings and we feel pressured and overwhelmed to get caught back up; it's just a vicious cycle. I've certainly felt like this before too in starting new studies or books. I just know that's the devil at work on us to keep us from the riches God has in store for us. But no matter how we KNOW that to be true, we continue to stumble into the same patterns with each new mountain top experience of God's or new study that we're excited about that then fizzles out a few days into it. Larry agreed that the readings were especially hard during the week with all the measurements of the tabernacle, etc.

Recently I've found that sometimes it's helpful to look around at other people's lives to get a true grasp of our own. Sometimes we just get so caught up in whatever we think is crushing us. Some things we just can't get on top of or in control of and we can't help but let these things get us down until we see what someone else is dealing with. I've felt that a lot recently with my own diagnosis of breast cancer and although I have a lot of issues to deal with, I can still find things that other people are going through that inspire me. This helps me to just keep on moving and deal with whatever little things come my way because we're all dealing with something.

Hopefully this doesn't come across as seeking pity or complaining on my part. I thought it might be that push for some of you who are struggling with finding joy in the reading or who are finding it to be a challenge every day just to get through it. We started this year's long walk through the Bible the very week I started my personal year-long treatment plan for chemotherapy. I think that's pretty cool and probably not a coincidence for whatever God has planned for my life this year. At first, I thought that He just had something He wanted me to specifically learn or refocus on. Or maybe , even though I've read through the Bible before, that I would see it in a new light this time. These might still be the case, but what I'm starting to see is that maybe God knew what my frame of mind would be this time around. Maybe He knew that physically things would not be going well and with each new ailment that comes my way it would start tearing me down little by little. Maybe He understood that I would have a hunger and a thirst for fulfillment that nothing but His word could give me. It seems like too often we search for answers in the things of this world instead of in the Bible. Here we know God has already left us everything we need but, unfortunately, our hearts just aren't into it.

I simply wanted to write a note of encouragement to all of you who are plugging through the reading and maybe aren't finding joy in it or are struggling with getting it done. Like I said, I'm not looking for pity here but I figure God allowed this disease to find me for a reason so I'm trying to let Him use me as He will and I feel like it might help one of you out there to know what an amazing God we serve and how much comfort and complete fulfillment I'm finding going through these readings. I've had to deal with a lot of physical ailments with starting chemotherapy and what some might find psychologically challenging as well, like losing my hair, or keeping up with hard questions from the kiddos around me. Sometimes I just get tired of thinking about it all. And when the usual comforts of going out to eat, or shopping, or watching TV, or whatever it might be for you aren't there, you realize what is there, what has been there the whole time. I can't believe how excited I was about the geneology of Adam to Noah to Abraham. It was like I had never seen it before. God has given us not only a book of instructions and history about where our ancestors came from but a book of tremendous hope and encouragement, of strength and love. It's one of the things that is pushing me through all this other crud that I feel the devil would love to use against me as he attempted to in the book of Job.

So be enouraged! God didn't give us this book or His commandments to make us struggle or feel guilty or overwhelmed by them. These stories of God's love and mercy and His promise of Heaven should be freeing more than anything. It should free us from being bound by sin or the so-called riches of this world or from how we measure up to society's standards, or from the sickness and disease that's all around us. What an amazing God we serve!

Celebration Story From the Havemans

Big miracles DO still happen:
On July 12, 2009 I took our 4 year old daughter Natalie into the emergency room around 7 PM, I thought for some simple antibiotics and a doctor telling me I was an over worried mother. By 10 PM my husband, Eric, had joined us at Zeeland Hospital and we were getting ready to transfer Natalie to DeVos Children's hospital. Natalie had undergone a CAT scan and one round of antibiotics, the doctors were telling us that she had a cyst that needed to be drained, serious but not a big deal. By midnight she was in surgery with our ENT at DeVos Children's hospital and Eric and I were sitting in the waiting room in disbelief. How did we get there? The ENT had told us a lot of different things that it could be, but over all she was a very sick little girl. I wanted to go back in time in my life. I just kept telling God, "You have the wrong kid, Lord. Please, not Natalie."

We had just gotten home from a family cruise with 50 family members, where we had the time of our lives. Now we were sitting in a waiting room in the middle of the night praying that our little girl would be OK. I still knew God was good and felt safe that He was in control; through all of this I had peace.

During the night I had emailed my small group and EGM to ask for prayers. I didn't have much information for them but I knew that's what they were there for. The next morning we got a little more news on Natalie's condition and the doctors almost totally ruled out cancer. They told us that she would be in the hospital for 3 days minimum and she would need at least one more surgery. Her condition was very serious and they kept repeating to us how sick she was. I believe with all the prayers for Natilie that she was able to heal more quickly than the doctors thought she would and she ended up leaving the hospital a day early. Miracle #1 was done! The doctors were impressed by her quick healing. An MRI was scheduled for one month later to see how much the cyst would grow and how to go about finding a doctor that was willing to do her tricky surgery. We were told we would have to travel possibly out of state and maybe even to the other side of the country to find a specialist.

Fast forward to the MRI. By this time the doctors told us she had a fist arch branchial cleft cyst that was up against her skull and wedged between the main facial nerve and a blood vessel. When it was swollen it was closing in her throat and the blood vessel. We were told best case scenario for a surgery to take the cyst out was a blood transfusion because they had nicked a blood vessel and worst case the nerve would be severed leaving her with life altering disabilities. This was a dangerous surgery.

We had asked for 2 prayers over the last month, that God would heal her in a way no man could take credit for and that we could praise God that way, or that we could praise God for working through all the medical doctors we were encountering in trying to heal Natalie. We asked God for nothing in between. I believed all along that God was capable of doing both, but I guess I readied myself for the latter.

Natalie did very well during the MRI and had been feeling good so we didn't know what to expect. The doctor ended up calling us a day early with the results. He said, "I have some good news, there is nothing there. We double checked it all and can find nothing." I'll never forget that phone call; my younest child was sick and crying and I could hardly hear the doctor. I asked him to repeat it. He said that the whole team in the ENT doctor's office reviewed her case and can't figure out what happened, not something doctors like to say. He also said the cyst hadn't just collapsed and not filled up again, they can't even find the casing for the cyst. It was truely a miracle! The doctor said that he has never seen anything like it. I told him about our prayers and told him that this was a miracle. The doctors wanted to follow up with Natalie; they were concerned that she would be sick again. I just told him our church, small group, family, friends, people we barely knew, and even some we didn't know had been praying for her. This was a miracle. She will not be sick again from this; that was not our prayer, of this I have NO doubt. This is something that God gave to her and something we will never let her forget. We were left just as amazed as the doctors, maybe even more in awe of God than amazed. The kind of awe that levels you to your face right then and there and brings tears of thanksgiving to your eyes. It still does!

She now carries the tiniest scar behind her right ear and she knows what it means. It means God loves her. No matter where she is in her faith she knows that at one point in her life a huge amout of God's people came together and prayed to our heavenly Father for a miracle and He gave it to her. That is HUGE! As her parents, we can't thank everyone enough. We wanted to share this, to tell everyone that BIG miracles like total healing do still happen. God didn't reserve those for just biblical times; He hears our cries and heals. Our humble hearts rejoice daily with this and we hope that our story brings you not only a smile but also a deeper trust in the Lord for your worries. Send your worries to Him and He will listen.

Natalie will return to the ENT in November for a recheck appointment. I hope that she can be a witness to God's love and healing power to all the doctors and nurses we have talked to. Our God is victorious!