We want to take a moment to thank each and every one of you who helped to make the Store a success again this year. We especially want to thank you for promoting the Christmas Store in your church, organization or family.

Allow us to share a few numbers with you to demonstrate the impact and scope of this years’ Christmas Store:

• Nearly 60 Churches, businesses, organizations and families contributed gifts and donations to stock the Store.
• We received 3,272 gifts and additional financial donations to help purchase highly demanded items.
• Over 120 families earned and redeemed credit in the Store, with another 45 families shopping with cash.
• Parents earned over 2,000 hours of credit to use in the Store and over 50 were employed to staff it.

(GRAND RAPIDS, MI) – The board of directors of The Other Way Ministries – a Christian community development organization that provides spiritual, relational, and economic assistance to urban families on the West Side of Grand Rapids – has selected Wayburn Dean to replace longtime executive director Lou Roossien.

Dean is perhaps best known for his successful Contemporary Christian music career, which included a five-and-a-half-year stint as lead singer for the Grammy- and Dove-nominated Christian vocal group Acappella. His background in ministry and in business is also impressive. He owned and operated his own advertising and music production company, TAK ONE Productions. Additionally, he founded a nonprofit with his wife, Janae – Afterword Music Ministry, which produces and distributes CDs to missionaries around the world. Dean has led strategic planning, fundraising, and marketing efforts for a variety of organizations, including The Potter’s House, a Christian school in inner-city Grand Rapids where he served as Development Director, and C.O.R.E.- Alliance, a national abstinence program where he was CEO.

“I am honored to be selected Executive Director of The Other Way, a tremendous ministry that has made a difference in the lives of many on the West Side,” Dean said. “There is a great need for assistance from many struggling families in Westown, and my wife and I are blessed to be able to heed this call to continue the legacy of this vital ministry.”

Lou Roossien will facilitate the transition beginning November 14th and will stay on through December, when he plans to retire after eight years of service.

“Lou is and always will be a tremendous asset for this organization and the board of directors offers its sincere appreciation for his leadership and devotion these past eight years,” said Mark Roberts, chair of Board of Directors for The Other Way Ministries. “As the organization continues to evolve, we are excited to have the energy and strategic-savvy of Wayburn Dean, whom we believe will open new doors for growth and collaboration in West Michigan.”

Asset-Based Community Development looks first at what a community has to offer: diversity, community, pride, resiliency, resourcefulness. Of course we wrestle with problems and issues that confront our neighborhood, but wonder what would happen if the first thing we all saw in people was their gifts and strengths.

How do we discover assets? Listening and observation are key. What would happen if we were quicker to listen to our neighbors and act on what they think would impact change?

Taking action on neighbors’ ideas and collaboration. We wrestle with how difficult it can be to work together, even as Christians. We must find a balance between our need for outside resources and how best to utilize the wealth of resources in the neighborhood.

Training and equipping spiritually, relationally and economically. We wrestle with the disparities in education and opportunity we see in our community and we wonder how we can be a part of building capacity and helping people build new skills.

Community. The importance of doing this work together. We wrestle with how easy it is to be disconnected with our neighbors. We wonder what good things like mutual learning and trust might happen around tables and food.

Walking Alongside. In all of these things we are wrestling with, how we can best walk alongside families to provide space for reflection so that they can shape their own legacy?

Most importantly we celebrate when we see glimmers of God’s glory, goodness and love breaking through. We are so glad you choose to walk with us.

When our youngest children entered school, a friend and I began praying together for God to lead us to work that was more than a paycheck, work that would honor Him and utilize our gifts. A short time later, a bulletin announcement caught my eye. The Other Way was looking for a part time Women’s Ministry Director. I was immediately intrigued and wasted no time applying. My answers were so idealistic and naïve—yet God, in His grace, allowed The Other Way Ministries and the neighbors of Westown to become my community, agents of His transforming work in my life.

Twenty three years later I look back in wonder at the priceless tapestry of relationships He has intricately woven together through the sharing of daily life in the neighborhood. Its beauty is in the marvelous diversity of the faces and lives and stories of the people of Westown, who have loved me so well and let me love them, too.

Although my perspectives on life have changed dramatically through my work here, I would answer one question on that 1988 application exactly the same way today. “What do I value most?” The only two things that are eternal–the Word of God and people. God’s greatest gift has been witnessing His Spirit quietly and persistently pursuing people in Westown, calling them out of darkness into living relationship with Jesus…and then using their lives to draw others into His forever community of faith. How grateful I am to God, The Other Way Staff and my dear friends in Westown for the privilege of walking this journey together.

Holiday Baskets: neighbors qualify and register for either a Thanksgiving or Christmas basket. You, a provider, gather ingredients for a meal and anything else you’d like to include. You deliver the basket (or bags or boxes) directly to the recipient. Call Melita now to become a provider. 616.454.4011 x 5331

Christmas Store: neighborhood parents volunteer in our community to earn credit in our annual Christmas Store. You buy new toys (keep the price tags on) and deliver them to us on Monday, December 5. Neighborhood parents use the credit they’ve earned to ‘buy’ gifts in the store for their children. It’s all about dignity; parents providing for their children. Call Melita or Natalie now for details and more info. 616.454.4011 x 5331 or x 5333.

Having been raised in a Christian family and a follower of Christ since I was a child, I have had the privilege to work in Ministry in one form or another for the past 25 years. My wife Janae and I are thrilled to begin this ministry journey and look forward to the new and exciting challenges as we serve at The Other Way.

We’re eager to see where God will lead as we strive to move to new heights and as we endeavor to make a Christ-centered difference to as many families as possible in Westown.

From this new venture will come new opportunities, we will need your continued prayer and support to achieve greater Kingdom value at The Other Way. We will give our best and watch as God gives the increase.

God Bless, Wayburn Dean

Legacy includes treasures that beg to be seen and celebrated as signs of the presence of God. Legacy takes the shape of a community garden greening the city, families picnicking in our Family Center parking lot, children in discipleship groups, YES workers hovering over lawnmowers and wielding weed whackers, teens enrolled in GRIL U, discovering their gifts and creating life break-through plans, individuals and couples being coached toward changes they choose…..

Legacy includes values passed on to children as a way of life. Kind of like perennial flowers, producing everlasting fruit meant to be enjoyed together now.

I am grateful that eight years ago I inherited a place in the legacy of The Other Way.

The legacy we pass on to Wayburn Dean, our new Executive Director, is what thousands of us have received and participated in since 1967. It’s a trust from God being nurtured into growing signs of the Kingdom of God in Westown, a collective, living, breathing re-presentation of the Servant-King Jesus among us.

I thank God for and welcome Wayburn as the Executive Director select, and I am delighted to introduce him to you and to invite him to participate in the 44 year legacy of The Other Way in Westown.

Please pray for and support Wayburn as you have myself and our faithful staff, and as you have Dick and Helen TerMaat and so many others before us. Pray with me that Wayburn receives and experiences the legacy of The Other Way, and encourage him to pass it on to many others as he re-presents Jesus in Westown and across West Michigan!

Deep Peace to you and yours, Lou Roossien

These are difficult days in our West side of Grand Rapids community. Housing values have cratered. Long-term neighborhood businesses are closing. Unemployment has soared, particularly for our community members of color. And so, it is particularly delightful when hard work and opportunity come together for those who care enough about their neighborhood to stay involved in the work of community development.

We had just such an experience this past month, when three of our regular community volunteers were able to take advantage of an employment opportunity and move from simple volunteer status to employed volunteer status. The path to this new status was through relationships developed through their community volunteering. This past month, they collectively took over the landscaping duties for the several properties owned and operated by The Other Way Ministries.

When we were all a bit younger, many of us can remember being told its not who you know, but what you know that will help you in the future. Well, that is often true – but not always. Relationship matters. Often enough, God chooses to bless us through those he has already brought into our lives. The three individuals, Johnny McSwain, Joyce Johnson, and Ray VanStee have all distinguished themselves this past year through their consistent willingness to serve their and our Westown community as volunteers connected through the work of our Americorps Member Karl Williams.

And along with their continuing volunteer work, their new employment, Karl reports that beyond all that, he is blessed to simply have them as new friends, friends he has come to know as he himself continues to invest in making the Westside of Grand Rapids a better place for everyone.

God is good. He provides us with everything, including friends for the journey. Relationship matters!

Jim Schepers

Join us to praise God for His faithful servants,

Deb Borst and Lou Roossien.

God called them each to The Other Way Ministries, in His time, and now God is calling each of them toexplore different ministry opportunities. We want to celebrate their investment in The Other Way, the Westown neighborhood and especially ourneighbors and friends.

An Open House from 4pm – 7 pm

On Tuesday, November 15, 2011

In the Activity Center at The Other Way Ministries

Light snacks will be served.

Lou has served as Executive Director for eight years and will leave at the end of December. His strategic, transitional leadership and care for staff, donors and neighbors will be missed.

Deb has served and loved our neighbors and staff in Westown for over 23 years in Women’s Ministry,Family Development Ministry, Program oversight and on the HR team. She leaves at the end of October. Her loving spirit has been a light for Jesus and will be missed.

Contact Sandy if you would like to contribute to a gift for either Deb or Lou.  ssmith@theotherway.org

The Other Way Ministries

710 W FultonGrand Rapids MI 49504

616.454.4011

UPDATE 11/29/11: We still need your help! With the Christmas Store just days away, we are still short on presents. Please consider:

We know that it is difficult to think Christmas when the weather is so beautiful!  However, Christmas is just 2 months away and parents are already earning credit in the neighborhood for the annual Christmas Store at The Other Way Ministries!  Your participation is so important to the success of this program as we seek to restore dignity to Christmas for the families we are walking alongside.

Included below is all of the information you will need to promote this program in your church, organization or with your family.  It would be helpful for our planning if you could indicate your involvement and commitment as soon as possible so that we can make decisions and preparations for the many families we serve.

• Please call or e-mail Kurt by October 31st to express your commitment.
• If you would like a copy of this information sent to you directly, please let us know and we will drop one in the mail.
• 2 short promotional videos as well as pictures are available on our website:  http://theotherway.org/gallery