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Climb a Mountain to Help People You Don’t Know? Definitely, Affirms Wyoming Resident Courtney Lanting

Written by Paul R. Kopenkoskey on 05 August 2019. Posted in Local

Courtney Lanting: “Helping people is all that matters. There are a number of ways to raise money for worthy causes. Wyoming resident Courtney Lanting decided she would climb a mountain.

Mount Kilimanjaro in northeastern Tanzania to be exact. At 19,340-feet high, it's the world's 7th highest mountain.

Lanting, 29, scaled the inactive volcano in early August to financially support Carol Springs, Ill.-based Growing Hope Globally's ongoing agricultural training for struggling farmers in Kenya, Africa. She was joined by a small cadre of climbers.

Unity Undergirds Blessing of the Students

Written by Paul R. Kopenkoskey on 29 July 2019. Posted in Local

Veruynca Williams: “(BOTS) is a celebration of their incoming school year.” Unity in Christ will take center stage Aug.18 when Christians from an assortment of denominations gather for the annual Blessing of the Students (BOTS).

Now in its 26th year, BOTS is a confluence of students of all ages, clergy, school administrators, teachers, paraprofessionals, community leaders, elected officials, bus drives and whoever else may come, to join in the unity of prayer, said Veruynca Williams, who founded BOTS.

Live music, dance and encouraging words are also in the mix.

Prolific Children’s Author Debuts New Book to Celebrate Baby

Written by Ann Byle on 29 July 2019. Posted in Local

Glenys Nellist, author of the Love Letters from God and Snuggle Time series for children, debuts her newest picture book written specially to celebrate the birth of a new baby. "The Wonder That Is You" releases by Zondervan later this month, with Nellist marking the release with several local events.

"I remembered the experience of having my first son, Steven, back in England in 1984. I was overwhelmed but also full of joy," she said. "I went to sleep with Steven in the cot by my bed, and had a dream that I was flying through air in the dark. I flew to the top of a roof and sat there swinging my feet with joy. The moon and stars were twinkling and full of joy too. I felt as if all creation rejoiced with me."

Band Reboot Renews Faith-Filled Mission

Written by Terry DeBoer on 22 July 2019. Posted in Local

Sanctus Real (from left): Dustin Lolli, Chris Rohman, Mark Gaarlman The very future of Sanctus Real was in question.

The veteran Christian pop-rock band faced a mountain of uncertainty in 2015 when co-founder, lead singer and chief songwriter Matt Hammitt announced he was leaving the group.

"We had seen it coming, but we really didn't talk about it," recalled drummer Mark Graalman during a recent interview. "For myself, I just assumed it would all be done. Matt was such a major part and the signature of the band," he said of the group's history from its mid 1990s start.

But now it's 2019 and Sanctus Real is very much alive. The band has built on its previous catalog, releasing its second full album with new lead singer Dustin Lolli.
The revamped group visits Michigan several times in the coming days- July 27 at a one-day festival in Leonidas and Aug. 9 at the Unity Christian Music Festival in Muskegon

DcTalk Reunion Tour Coming Into View?

Written by Terry DeBoer on 22 July 2019. Posted in Local

dcTalk today (l. to r.) Michael Tait, TobyMac, Kevin Max TobyMac has remained consistent through the years when talking about his former Christian music group dcTalk. An eventual reunion was always in the back of his mind.

"It's not a matter of 'if,'" Toby would say each time this reporter asked him about getting back together.

"It's just a matter of 'when.'"

The trio of artists – Toby McKeehan, Kevin Max and Michael Tait – had a terrific run through the decade of the 1990s: Four Grammy Awards, more than a dozen Dove Awards, and sales of more than 7 million albums.

Upcoming Widows’ Retreat Designed to Equip, Educate and Inspire

Written by Paul R. Kopenkoskey on 22 July 2019. Posted in Local

Susan VandePol: “Widows find out they have a calling.” When area widows gather in October for a retreat at the Maranatha Conference Grounds in Muskegon, Susan VandePol will be there to encourage them to embrace a new path in their lives.

"They can expect to be equipped, educated and inspired by their biblical calling," said VandePol, whose husband of 22 years, Los Angeles firefighter Bob Ortega, died in 2005.

Finding their calling

"I start Friday night and close the weekend on Sunday morning on what God's Word says about widows and their place," said VandePol. "Their (widows) stories are so painful to hear but when widows find out they have a calling and take that protocol to their church. They grab onto that."

Since her husband's duty-related death, VandePol is helping families whose first-responder family members died cope with their loss.

Manna Report

Written by WMCN Editor on 18 July 2019. Posted in Local

Summertime is often a time to kick back and relax, and things sometimes slow down a bit. But, this is not the case for Manna Media this summer!

Someone recently approached us and said, "Every time I turn on my computer, I see your ads." What an encouragement that was to us, and just a confirmation that our digital media campaign is working.

We are sending out our newsletter a little earlier than usual because the news is just too good not to share. Our Manna Media digital campaign launched on May 7, 2019, and today we are excited to report that our ads have appeared on over one million devices. And that means that over one million people have had an opportunity to be confronted with the gospel.

The DOCK Clothes Middle, High School Students with Christ’s DNA

Written by Paul R. Kopenkoskey on 02 July 2019. Posted in Local

Steve Roobol: “We show them the love of Christ by sharing the love of Christ.” Alexander "Xander" Szocinski became entwined with the tendrils of friends and fun when he started hanging out in his sophomore year at The DOCK, a year-round ministry at 4669 S. Division Ave. in Wyoming that's across from Kelloggsville Middle School.

"They have just about any board game you can think of," said Szocinski, a 2016 graduate of Kelloggsville High School. "Uno; that's the one I played the most with friends."

Szocinski stayed involved with The DOCK after high school, volunteering for a year where he says it helped him hone a work ethic. He also ran The DOCK's candy store for a time.

"Yeah, I was the candy man, that's basically what they called me," said Szocinski, who's a dishwasher/busser at a Mr. Burger Restaurant in Wyoming. "I had kids daily ask, 'When are you going to open it?'"

Terry’s Picks for July 2019

Written by Terry DeBoer on 02 July 2019. Posted in Local

West Michigan Christian News writer Terry DeBoer surveys the landscape for the area's faith-based arts/entertainment/enrichment events over the coming month. Here are three highlights for July:

Steven Malcolm Includes GR Hometown on New Tour

Written by Terry DeBoer on 26 June 2019. Posted in Local

West Michigan native Steven Malcolm was making final preparations for his upcoming, five-week hip-hop tour which includes a July 26 date in Grand Rapids.

"Due to all my upcoming traveling, we gatta find a new home for our dog," he posted to his social media followers in late June. "If anyone is interested in a 2 yr-old pitbull (fully trained, neutered and gentle) HMU (hit me up)."

No doubt by now Malcolm, 28, and his wife Teaira have found a caretaker for their pet at their Kentwood home. But the national Christian recording artist is also readying his on-stage program as headliner for the "Tag Team Tour" with his longtime performing partner Mark (the Baddguy) Evans II and special guest Maddie Rey.

"If I don't lose my voice every single night or wake up sore the next day...this tour wasn't lit enough," Malcolm noted of his performing enthusiasm.

Summer Reading Programs Flourishing at Baker Book House

Written by Ann Byle on 26 June 2019. Posted in Local

Children and adults still have time to sign up for summer reading programs at Baker Book House, the leading Christian bookstore in West Michigan. Readers can register through the middle of July for the programs that have readers earning prizes based on hours read or books read.

More than 1,500 youngsters have already signed up for Read. Set. Explore!, with the store forecasting 2,000 registrants by mid-July. This is up from 1,500 last year, 1,200 the year before, and 800 the year before that.

"We want to have the best summer reading program in town," said Josh Mosey, Children's Product Buyer and director of Ready. Set. Explore! and the adult program. "We want to reward kids and adults for reading. If we can help kids develop a love for reading, they'll read their whole lives."

Faith Hospice Memorial Service, Counseling Enable Grief-stricken People Walk Back into Life

Written by Paul R. Kopenkoskey on 17 June 2019. Posted in Local

From left: Faith Hospice bereavement manager Janet Jaymin enabled people like Sandi Veenkamp stay grounded in life and in the Lord.Sandi Veenkamp has walked through the valley of the shadow of death. But then, the Cascade resident discovered anew the anchor in her life that got her through the deaths of her husband, mother, brother and sister-in-law.

"I have a picture of the Lord reaching down and hauling somebody out of the mire and that was what He was doing all along (for her)," said Veenkamp. "There's no doubt in my mind the Lord was walking with me. I sit down in the morning and invite Him in mind, body and spirit."

World stretched

Veenkamp's world was stretched to the hilt when her husband of 48 years, Nick, died in June 2017 due to prostate cancer and a heart-related condition. The anguish didn't stop there. A week later, her brother and sister-in-law were killed in a traffic accident. Then in January 2018, Veenkamp's mother died of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease complications.

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