Last Thursday, July 22, we hosted our annual Family Picnic in the parking lot of the Family Center.

We were blessed with another great turn out and with a break in the pouring rain!

About 30 families were in attendance to enjoy good food, fellowship, worship, dance performances and lots of family friendly games.

As has been the case for many years, the Fair Haven work group planned, set up and staffed all of the games. The picnic serves as the culmination of their week of working on projects that benefit both "The Other Way" and Westown Jubilee Housing.  This year, the Fair Haven crew consisted of 20 students and 4 leaders. Thanks for your help!

Join us THIS SATURDAY, July 31 at Servant's Community Church for the Annual TEAM Event (TEAM is our Summer day camp for elementary age students).

The theme of this year's event: We Are Conquerors - Despite all these things, overwhelming victory is our through Christ, who loved us.
- Romans 8:37

This will be a celebration of Music and Dance and all are welcome.

Performances include:

• Step Dance
• Hip Hop Dance
• Poetry
• Gospel Group
• Praise and Worship
• Gamma Phi Delta Christian Fraternity Inc.

With Special Performances by "The Other Way" Children's dance teams and choir.

Doors will open at 6:00 pm, Show starts at 6:30 pm.

Servant's Community Church is located at 53 Deloney SW.  Click here for a map.

The suggested ticket/donation is $5.00. All proceeds go to "The Other Way" Children's Ministry. The TEAM Staff goal for 2010 is to raise $10,000. Please consider helping us reach this goal!

Do you like to ride your bicycle?

If so, you have the opportunity to help raise funds and awareness about "The Other Way" while you do something you already enjoy!

The 2nd Annual (in Grand Rapids) Ride For Refuge will be held October 2 and event organizers are anticipating 1,000+ riders!

The Ride for Refuge is an event aimed at raising awareness and money for organizations working with displaced, exploited and vulnerable people. "The Other Way" has officially been selected as one of the "Ride Partners" for 2010!

We're excited about this opportunity and are actively seeking Riders AND Team Captains. Here's how you can get involved:

Riders: Join the already existing "The Other Way" team by clicking here. Set a personal fund raising goal and raise money and pledges for the event. On October 2, pedal your bike on a pre-determined loop (5, 15, 30, 45 and 60 mile courses). 

Team Captains: Become a Team Captain for "The Other Way" and recruit your friends and family as riders to help raise funds and pledges for the event.

This is a family friendly event and suitable for people of all cycling abilities. We hope to have entire families participate and help "The Other Way" reach it's goal of raising $10,000!

For more information, contact Kyle or go to the official website here.

Our 6th Annual Fall Fundraiser will be held Tuesday, September 21 at the Goei Center, just a few blocks from "The Other Way". Mark the evening on your calendar now!

The Goei Center is housed in the recently restored Kindel Furniture Factory on Butterworth Ave and is an incubator for a number of small businesses.

You can also find the new headquarters of Eastern Floral in the sprawling space.

You can expect to learn a bit more about the Center the night of the event as Eastern Floral CEO and Goei Center visionary, Bing Goei, speaks briefly about what inspired him to renew this historic site. You'll also hear stories from "The Other Way" Ministries about Inspired Relationships, Inspired Families, Inspired Community. 

Invitations will go out in the mail in a couple weeks. If you'd like to RSVP now, contact Jackie by phone (454.4011x5112) or by e-mail (jkoning@theotherway.org).

Current Event Sponsors Include:

Each Monday morning, our staff has the opportunity to share and pray together at the beginning of our Staff Meeting. We'd love to have you join us in prayer, thanking God for some of the great things going on in Westown as well as bringing some of our concerns before Him.

Here are some of our most recent praises and petitions:

• We're thankful for all the work groups and volunteers who are helping us get things done this summer (23 work crews so far in 2010!) 
  
• Pray that the summer ends well and for next steps for our interns as they make decisions and seek God's will for their futures.
  
• Pray for our staff as we integrate the Children's Ministry with our Family Development programming. 
• We ask God to bless several upcoming events including our Annual Fall Fundraiser, the Ride for Refuge and the "We are Conquerors" event.