This picture is all of the students who participated in the program for the summer of 2011, except Stephen Dozeman and Lauren Treiber.
Contact Karen Gerard if you have questions about this program. Karen's e-mail is klmgerard@aol.com. Refer to the church directory for additional contact information.
Glenn Van Noord Short-Term Urban Missions Program
The Glenn Van Noord Short-Term Urban Missions Program enables students, with a desire to make a difference in the lives of the poor and needy, to serve in Grand Rapids each summer.
To read the reflections of the students who served in 2011, click on the Glenn VanNoord Reflections Papers 2011 link under Related Downloads on the right side of this page.
General information about the program:
The goal of this program is to see the kingdom of God advanced in our city. We do this by serving local urban ministries through short-term placement of youth/young adults from Thornapple Covenant Church into vacant ministry positions. The ministry positions available are as varied as the applicants. To fill these positions, we are looking for college students and juniors and seniors in high school who feel called to serve in the inner city.
Glenn Van Noord was a family physician in Grand Rapids and a member of Thornapple Covenant Church from 1993 until 1998. He liked the idea of continuing a legacy of his grandparents, who into their 80s volunteered at Degage Ministries in downtown Grand Rapids. He started a youth group trip each month to Degage, feeling it was important for his and other kids at Thornapple to be exposed to lifestyles and opinions and experiences which were different from their own. He also volunteered at the health clinic at Heartside in Grand Rapids' homeless community. At age 51, his love for adventure and new experience brought him to Central America, where he died suddenly of a heart attack. The Glenn Van Noord Short-Term Urban Missions Program combines some of the things that made Glenn who he was: new experiences, serving the poor, love for teenagers and the gospel.
APPLICATIONS: We will NOT be accepting applications until March 2012 for the summer of 2012. We will review applications received starting in April 2012. To apply for this program (do not complete until March 2012), click here.
To read the reflections of the students who served in 2011, click on the Reflections Papers GVSTUM 2011 link under Related Downloads on the right side of this page.
Karen Gerard coordinates this program. After completion of the application, the program Coordinator interviews and works with each student to match them to the right organization for them.
To see a video prepared by one of the students about the program, click here.
Students who served in the summer of 2011:
- Marty Dekker- Feeding America W MI
- Stephen Dozeman - Feeding America W MI
- Lucas Gerard - Habitat For Humanity ReStore and Family Promise
- Grant Mortenson - Family Haven
- Luci Ohlman - W MI Refugee Center and Family Promise
- Leoni Schmidt - West Michigan Refugee Center
- Catie Sattler - ACCESS West MI
- Lauren Treiber - CRC Office of Social Justice
- Katelyn Tresh - Pregnancy Resource Center
- Tom Tresh - Oasis of Hope and Health Intervention Services
- Ross Udell -Degage
Ministry Partners and their websites:
Alpha Women's Center http://www.alphawc.org
Baxter Community Center www.baxtercommunitycenter.org
Degage Ministries www.degageministries.org
Family Promise http://familypromisegr.org
Heartside Ministries www.heartside.org
HIS Clinic www.hisgr.org
ICCF Family Haven www.iccf.org
Kids Food Basket www.kidsfoodbasket.org
Mel Trotter Ministries www.meltrotter.org
Pregnancy Resource Center www.prcforlife.org
Safe Haven Ministries www.safehavenministries.org
The Other Way Ministries www.theotherway.org
W. MI Refugee Education Center www.westmirefugee.org
To read the reflections of the students who served in 2011, click on the Glenn VanNoord Reflections Papers 2011 link under Related Downloads on the right side of this page.
