Last week, our family spent our days hiking, biking, and tubing in the Smokey Mountains. We saw seem bears, deer, a couple coyotes and a screech owl. But mostly we just enjoyed being together. The last half of our trip we were camping in the Cades Cove Campground in the national park. This was our fancy campground because they had flush toilets and not portable-potties. (Our first campground had no running water because the water plant was waiting on a single part after some updating over the winter.) 

We also had some great neighbors for the three days were we in this campground.

• Danny was a single guy, who has been coming to the park since he was a kid and was full of stories of finding bear and of some original residents of the Cove whom he had met 30 years before. He was a well of information about secret sights to see, like the old Cadillac of the President of the logging company who didn’t get it out of the park before it became federal land and to avoid a fine hid it in the world over a hill.
• Lance was a chicken farmer from Alabama with his wife and two kids. He used to be a bull rider until he was stomped by a bull and now has titanium all over this body. He thought he was the black sheep of his family because his brother was a Deacon and he clearly made different choices in his life. We talked about how God seemed to have a soft spot for the black sheep in the Bible.
• The couple right next door were distracting themselves because their youngest had graduated high school and was free range camping across the US. (They had a satellite phone to stay in contact with him.)
• Across the street from us there was a family reunion. Three siblings and their spouses got together to celebrate a birthday. They were all preacher’s kids and some had grown up to be preachers or missionaries themselves. One of them worked for a company that conducted backgrounds checks and other security for private schools and knew quite a bit about the Christian schools in West Michigan.
• And then there was a Park Ranger I met who was going through chemo and was planning her upcoming vacation between chemo treatments. I think I may have convinced her to try Sleeping Bear Dunes here in Michigan.

I share these little tidbits about our neighbors because it is a reminder to me that people want to be known, they want someone to take an interest in their lives, they want to tell their story, and when we provide that space, doors start to open to deeper relationship and sharing some hope in Christ. Granted, it is easier to make these connections in a campground because there are some obvious places to make connections (trailers, hiking, animal sightings, and so on).

We are in the middle of a unique season in Michigan. People are outdoors. Neighbors are sitting outside at night, going for walks, cooling off in pools, and grilling out supper. There is no better time than right now for each of us to be intentional to connect with our neighbors. If this feels a little intimidating, you will want to join us in August as we will be spending 4 Sundays talking about the art of being a neighbor.

Hope you are all enjoying this great Michigan summer and enjoy the 4th of July weekend!

– Greg

Connect to God
This Sunday we will gather in person at 9:30 am and online at 9:30 and 11 am. If you are joining us outside, you will want to bring chairs. The online service will be pre-recorded and abbreviated as we will not be live-streaming our outdoor services over the summer. You can find the services either on our Facebook page or at zionreformed.online.church. We will also rebroadcast a version of the service on WCET at noon on Friday and 4pm next Sunday.

There are a number of books, thoughts, and ideas on end times theology. What will happen, when will it happen, who will it affect and the list goes on. As we look at the end of 2 Peter 3, Peter only mentions what will take place. He does not go into detail but rather talks about what we should be doing as we wait for this event. We need to be doing more than just waiting. Join us to find out what that is as we close out this letter from Peter.

Grow in Community
Steve Landstra received good news this week after undergoing tests last week. Currently, there are no signs of cancer and he will only need to undergo tests every 3 to 6 months to continue monitoring the situation. We join Steve, Shawn, Hayley and Carly in praising God for this good news.

Weather permitting, our kids ministry will be outside all summer long. This is for kids ages 3 through going into 3rd grade. We’ll be meeting by the picnic tables to read Bible stories, pray together, do other outdoor crafts/games, and play on our church playground! 

The nursery is open again this summer. Nursery is for children ages 0-3. The nursery check-in will be inside at the nursery. Young children are also welcome in the main worship service. Thank you to all those serving in the nursery!

Marge Westra will have surgery on July 6 where she will have a cyst in her back removed and a spinal fusion to correct slippage in a vertebrae. Please pray for the surgery and recovery that follows to go well.

We are reading through the New Testament over the next year as a congregation. The reading schedule for this coming week is below:
Monday: 2 Corinthians 7
Tuesday:2 Corinthians 8
Wednesday: 2 Corinthians 9
Thursday: 2 Corinthians 10
Friday: 2 Corinthians 11

You can also find the reading schedule on our website under the Ministries tab.

Serve the World
We continue to make preparations to open Threads, a clothing ministry, this fall. Jill Austin and Rick VanderWall were going over details and plans to prepare the basement to host this ministry earlier in the week. Jim Peterson painted the space last week and Austen DeHaan and Troy Austin will be laying the flooring this weekend!

If you need help, either with food, personal care items, help grocery shopping, or with financial needs, please contact Jerrod Holzgen, our chair of deacons, and he can help connect you with the appropriate resources at Zion. His e-mail is Jholzgen@yahoo.com and his phone number is 616-520-1771.

Administration
The Consistory approved remodeling our bathrooms at our April meeting. If you have been in our bathrooms recently you may have noticed they not only look dated, but also have a particularly uncomfortable scent and are in need of some significant repairs. The approved plan will intentionally fit with the larger building remodel plan we approved prior to Covid rather than simply updating the bathrooms. By doing so, we leave open the possibility of moving ahead with the building remodel after Covid and as the financial impacts of this past year become more clear. This small project, however, will cost about $125,000. We will not move forward with this remodeling step until at least half of those funds are raised. If you would like to give to the bathroom remodel, you can do so by donating to our building fund. We do ask that anything given to the building fund be in addition to your regular support of Zion ministries through the general fund so we  can still effectively fund our ongoing ministries.

We continue to thank God for his provision of all of our needs and for the generous support of our congregation with their time, talent, and treasures.

Fiscal Year 2021/22 Budget:  $44,841.08
Fiscal Year 2021/22 Contributions: $28,414.76
Giving Last Week: $7,102.00
Bathroom Building Fund (total given): $2,405.00