Bruce Pommerening, who attends a different church is a friend of Carol Rabbers, who attends Central. Bruce 1st heard about this family from Vicky's sister who gets therapy from Bruce. After Central's city-wide Plunge, Vicky's sis mentioned that her sister could really use some help. She explained that their house is in really bad shape and both Vicky & John have cancer. They are not Christians, but seem to be open to spiritual things at this time. The sis is a Jehovah's Witness. She also said that they have some hard feelings towards "that big church".
Bruce's wife, Grace, discussed it with her good friend Carol Rabbers, who works with me. Carol & I wanted to know where the house was & how we could help, so we had Bruce find out more info. After finding out that it wasn't CWC they were upset with, we still felt a burden to helpthem, but we felt at a loss about how to go about it. I called the church & was referred to Jason Kehrer. When I explained the situation to Jason & he said "Sure, I'll go over there this afternoon or tomorrow to ask them", I hung up & just looked at Carol in amazement. He owned it at that point & just knew the perfect way to open the door for us. After Jason spoke with them & told them to expect my call, I talked to Vicky to see what she wanted done. She chose outdoor cleanup & planting. I stopped by the Tuesday before our work date to spray for sand fleas in one area, which was a nice opportunity to get to know her a bit one on one plus take some mental measurements of the yard. We talked a few times on the phone & she shared quite a bit.
Our team came together: Ben VanDis, Mary Overway, Bruce & Grace Pommerening with their son Luke(from Ridgepoint Church), Sherry Alexander (from Graafschap Church), Dave Rabbers, Doug Kloosterman, Brian & Deb Scully & Kris Bakker brought lunch. We started @ 8:30 on a gorgeous Saturday, June 10. Jason showed up in time to bless our day (I truly wish I could hear that prayer again!) & we were off. There was a huge pile of stuff to get rid of. Dave spent the entire day using a large dump trailer to cart away 3 full loads. One load was broken up cement. One load was all metal to Padnos- which they paid $33 for. Dave gave that $ to John. He didn't want to take it, but Dave made him. It was pretty fun to see John's face! The last load was junk. We also cleaned out the side perennial garden, mowed & rototilled to prepare the areas for planting, planted petunias, leveled ground, added dirt & planted bushes & laid mulch in 4 different areas.
God definitely blessed this gathering. I so enjoyed the interactions between team members & the family. We had a multi-denominational crew who didn't all know each other when we started. When Kris came with lunch, she brought her guys along from Brothers House 2. We all had a ball. Vicky said a neighbor called just before we left to say how good the yard looked. It really did! We all felt blessed & great as we were leaving for the day- smiles all around.
- Deb Scully
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In addition, it's of worth to note that Harbor Village donated all the mulch used in this project. I think that's a beautiful blessing!
- Jason
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