On Saturday, November 12, Pastor Gerry, Doug Steketee, Ross Jelsema and I traveled to Lansing to meet with a group from Rosedale. This meeting was to discuss what we feel God has in store for our relationship over the next 12 months.. . Faith Fellowship Baptist Church in Lansing graciously allowed us to use their building for the meeting so Trinity and Rosedale could meet at a half-way point. The Rosedale group was represented by Brad Oppat (Porch Light Ministries), Roy Harlin (Project Imagine), Conrad Krinock (Meeting God through His creation), Mayce Webber (Deacon), Pastor Alexander, Haman Cross III (Youth) and Tammy Terry (World Missions).

A majority of our time together was dedicated to sharing what each church had in store for the coming year. This would then allow us to talk about how we could share in the ministry of our respective churches.

Here are some of the things that Rosedale shared with us:

•   They are planning a Love Your Neighbor Day in June.

•   They have an idea to turn one of the depleted homes across the street into a pavilion. They hope to finish up that work in Late April – Early May.

•   They hope to expand their Community Garden in Early Spring (April).

•   They have an outdoor prayer area that includes a pond and landscaping and they hope to revitalize that in Late May.

•   They have hopes of renovating the basement of their old church. They would like to work on that in the January – March time frame.

•   They have several mission trips planned throughout 2012.

•   The youth are anticipating coming to Trinity again in March.

•   Lord willing, Pastor Haman will be teaching again at Trinity on February 12.

Here are some of the things that we shared with Rosedale:

•   We hope to replace the roof of the Food Pantry in the April – May time frame.

•   We would love to have Rosedale’s Worship Team lead one of the Ice Cream Sunday events next summer.

•   We have a pig roast with the community in September.

•   We have several men at Trinity who love the outdoors, including canoeing, hunting and fishing. We discussed the possibility of a joint trip of Trinity and Rosedale men and boys that would include the listed activities.

•   The Stream Team does work in the stream around the end of May.

•   We tossed around the idea of going to a Tigers game together and having a Ryder Cup golf event between the two churches.

•   Lord willing, Pastor Gerry will be teaching at Rosedale on April 15.

I share this with you because I would love for you to consider being involved in the Trinity/Rosedale relationship in 2012. It is also a reminder to continue to find ways, especially through Life Groups, to reach out to the lost in our communities.               Chasing the prize,

Gary