West Michigan Christian News writer Terry DeBoer surveys the landscape for the area’s faith-inspired arts/entertainment/enrichment events over the coming month. Here are three highlights for January:

Hand2Hand founder and executive director Cheri Honderd stands in the pantry Fair Haven Church provides. The weekend can be a very long two days for kids who have little or nothing to eat.

That was the sobering reality Cheri Honderd discovered in 2008 when the Great Recession still had a firm grip on the economy. Honderd learned there were 19 students in Jenison coming to school Monday mornings with their stomachs growling with hunger.

Honderd's awareness led to her founding the Hudsonville-based nonprofit, Hand2Hand.

Since then, Hand2Hand has multiplied its outreach to include feeding 7,500 students with weekend meals who attend 193 schools in seven West Michigan counties, thanks to the partnership muscle of more than 100 churches and thousands of volunteers.

West Michigan Christian News presents 2019 in review. Below are links to many of the articles we published during the year, reminding us of the many ordinary people in and around West Michigan who are doing extraordinay things to advance the Kingdom of God.

Well, 2019 is but a calendar-page away from completion. So maybe it's time to share a take on the West Michigan Christian music scene over the last 11 months. Let's see where we've been, and maybe a bit of where we're going.

A Concert Year:

Van Andel Arena hosted several faith-based shows during 2019, included the annual Winter Jam (headlined by Newsboys), MercyMe, TobyMac, Casting Crowns and Hillsong United, plus the recent Christmas show with Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith. And Switchfoot made a memorable stop at 20 Monroe Live.

The local ResLife Worship crew (part of Reslife Church in Grandville) has a new three-song collection for this Christmas season.

Church worship leader Ken Reynolds wrote and produced each of the songs. The worship-ful title song -"Born A King"- features vocals by Tiffany Mauer with choral background from the ResLife Choir. The "Come let us adore Him" lyric reinforces the Christmas message.

"Starry Night" is a slower-tempo, keyboard-based ballad, with lush strings courtesy of the City of Prague Orchestra, and added saxophone by ResLife associate pastor of worship Bruce Vanderveen.

Airika and Max Kolenda are inspired to own Makarios Décor. Prominently displayed inside Makarios Décor is a table made of elm wood with the entire Gospel of Matthew inscribed on it. It's an understatement to call the slab of wood a conversation piece.

"I had a epiphany or vision that we need to dive into extremely complex art and bring things into the world no one has ever seen before," says Max Kolenda who owns and operates Makarios Décor with his wife of 8 ½ years, Airika. The couple has four boys, ages eight, six, four and one. "That led us to utilizing lasers to create things."

Makarios Décor's 3,000-square foot retail space is a test store. It's located inside Woodland Mall near the JC Penny anchor. The Kolendas signed a temporary lease that runs through Jan. 21, 2020, according to Max, age 31. Thereafter, the Byron Center couple will decide if they want to have a brick and mortar store year round or seasonally.

West Michigan Christian News writer Terry DeBoer surveys the landscape for the area's faith-inspired arts/entertainment/enrichment events over the coming month. Here are three highlights for December:

Amy Grant and Michael W. SmithOn his current concert tour, singer-songwriter Marc Martel feels like he’s back home.

“I’ve kept my connections with my brothers and sisters in Christian music and have amazing memories from that time,” said the artist from his Nashville area home.

But it’s especially during the holiday season that he has re-connected with his musical roots - he was selected to join Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith on their Christmas tour this year, coming to Grand Rapids Dec. 5.

After a decade-plus run by his faith-based band Downhere, Martel was shot into the mainstream music world. His calling card was his piercing vocal which is a sound-alike for the late rock singer Freddie Mercury of Queen.

Rev. Lally embraced an attitude of gratitude when he ministered to some of the most gentle and loving people while in El Paso, Texas. The Rev. Joachim Lally's love for the least of these had him recently casting a wide net of kindness.

It's the reason why he and four Grand Rapids Dominican Sisters — Chela Gonzalez, Janet Brown, Joyce Ann Hertzig and Mary Kay Oosdyke — were compelled to journey earlier this year to the Annunciation House in El Paso, Texas. Operated entirely by volunteers, the five Grand Rapidians helped welcome for two weeks an influx of refugees from Brazil, Portuguese, Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua.

Gaither Vocal Band (from l.) Wes Hampton, Reggie Smith, Bill Gaither, Todd Suttles, Adam Crabb Singer Reggie Smith is having the time of his life as part of the Gaither Vocal Band.

"Talk about a band of brothers...it's like we're in ninth grade again," beamed Smith, 53, from his Nashville area home.

Smith has been part of the legendary Southern Gospel quintet for nearly three years and worked with them for many years previously. But he still takes inspiration from the group's founder and senior member, Bill Gaither.

"His motor is second to none, and he's been a mentor to all of us with his attitude, creativity and brilliance," he noted of Gaither, 83.

Gaither leads his vocal band and a stable of other music artists in a "Christmas Homecoming" tour which stops at Grand Rapids First on Dec. 5.

Local singer-songwriter/worship leader Kali Joy has released a new collection of songs dealing with life's uncertainty, fear, and faith.
And one of them is a "break-up" song.

Perhaps the most striking selection in this five-song package is the ballad "Anything Like Me?" The meaning is suggested in the song's music video:

Using "flashbacks" from a child's experience, the themes of rejection and self-esteem come right to the present day prompting lyrics such as..."I've been in hiding...If you're anything like me, you need a hand to hold today."

In composing these Christmas arts/concert previews, I always feel that I'm rushing the holiday spirit. How much earlier than the actual holiday should we launch into the message so quickly overshadowed by all of the season's commercial pressures?

But with several area radio stations and a couple of cable TV networks already churning out full-time Christmas fare in early November, why not leap into the fray and highlight some events which point toward the Savior's birth. (And at the end of the article, check out a new Christmas song!)

The seen and unseen combine in “Pilgrim The Musical” It's a side-by-side view of the physical and the spiritual that highlights "Pilgrim the Musical."

"It all plays out on the stage," said Rich Garnaat, director of the local production. "The audience gets to see the spiritual world right alongside the action among the physical characters, and it reveals some beautiful spiritual truths."

The 17th Century John Bunyan novel "Pilgrim's Progress" is one of the more enduring of allegorical depictions of the believer's life. The main character, Christian, is on a journey to the Celestial City (Heaven). Along the way he meets characters (Pliable, Faithful, Obstinate) and must travel through places (such as Wicket Gate and Valley of the Shadow) whose names have obvious metaphorical meanings.

West Michigan Christian News writer Terry DeBoer surveys the landscape for the area's faith-inspired arts/entertainment/enrichment events over the coming month. Here are three highlights for November:

The theme of the United Nations’ recent International Day of the Girl was Unscripted and Unstoppable. Local GEMS girls finished this statement, “The Truth is I am …” Some of the biggest challenges girls face today include bullying, cutting, depression, thoughts of suicide and the stress of body image issues.

It's a far cry from the problems girls faced in 1958 when Barbara Vredevoogd founded GEMS in Grand Rapids as a Christian Reformed Church ministry to young girls.

Sixty-one years later, GEMS is now a nondenominational Christian outreach comprised of 5,200 women serving over 23,000 girls in more than 800 clubs around the world.

GEMS is a sisterhood that relishes getting together. In July, the nonprofit held its annual conference at Calvin University, which drew GEMS leaders from North America and beyond, and included worship, speakers and seminars.

In West Michigan and beyond, GEMS leaders help way finding girls discover God's unchangeable Word. They learn along the way they are loved and valued just the way they are.

A centerpiece of GEMS is its acronym: Girls Everywhere Meeting the Savior.

The annual "Winter Jam Tour Spectaclular" Christian music tour has once again selected a Sunday in January to visit West Michigan.

Sunday January 19, 2020 is the date the giant 42-city tour comes to Van Andel Arena in downtown Grand Rapids.

David Crowder and his band headline the local date. The bearded Crowder performed only recently at Van Andel with MercyMe. Also on stage will be the worship-oriented Passion group, hip-hopper Andy Mineo, hard-rockers RED, singer-songwriter Austin French, and the host band NewSong.

WCSG-FM executive director Chris Lemke (right) is congratulated by Chris Hauser of the GMA on the station’s Radio Impact Award. West Michigan-based inspirational radio station WCSG-FM (91.3) has received the 2019 Gospel Music Association Radio Impact Award for contemporary Christian radio outlets.

Chris Lemke, executive director of the station, received the honors in Nashville ceremonies as part of the recent GMA Dove Award festivities.

In his remarks during the presentation, Lemke offered thanks to the voting association members.

"This award, of course, is not why we do this," he told the audience, made up mostly of music artists, industry staff and executives as well as media members. "We're prone to say the greater cause is Jesus – that's why we do it, and that would be true. But there's another reason and that's for the listeners. It's the listeners who listen to your music and who sing your songs and who have (them) embedded in their minds and in their hearts."

The non-commercial, listener-supported station is licensed to Cornerstone University and airs on several different frequencies in cities throughout Southwest Michigan. The format features a variety of contemporary Christian music from many of the nation's top artists and for decades has tagged itself as a family-friendly radio voice.

Tammy Trent Autumn is among inspirational speaker/singer Tammy Trent's busiest seasons.

"Womens' events most often happen during the fall and spring," explained Trent by phone from her Nashville, TN home. "So now I'm full into my fall schedule and busy nearly every weekend up until Christmas."

A Grand Rapids area native (a mid-1980s Forest Hills Northern H.S. grad) the former Tammy Buffum's promising Christian music career was off and running more than 30 years ago. She and husband/manager Trent Lenderink moved to Nashville to be nearer the industry's recording and touring connections and growing community of Christian music artists.

But things took a tragic turn in 2001 when he was killed in a diving accident.

Manna Café founder Craig Witcher: “Our goal is to be a blessing to the community and everybody who comes in.” The late afternoon chatter among customers is lively. Servers bustle back and forth to bring patrons sandwiches, soups and salads or refill cups with steaming coffee. Glasses and plates clink when tables are cleared. Manna Café, in short, has all the makings of a standard restaurant. Except it isn't.

Isaiah 55:2 and John 6:35 are ablaze on the 85-seat eatery's walls. The waitresses' T-shirts have printed on the back "serving goodness from God's creation." The for-sale merchandise made from around the world helps to support ministries near and far.

David’s House Ministries president Casey Kuperus shares a moment with resident Kerry while listening to music on her record player. Nestled in Southwest Wyoming is a seven-acre development where hope and faith dwell for those with development disabilities.

Founded in 1987 by Rev. Jay and Lois DeBoer, David's House Ministries (DHM) provides physical, spiritual, emotional and social care for 40-plus people with developmental disabilities, traumatic brain injuries or mental illnesses.

A full life

The goal is to give them as full a life as possible, according to Casey Kuperus, president of DHM.

"What we're doing is providing care at home and support needed for folks not able to live on their own," said Kuperus. "They all have either development cognitive impairments and many have physical impairments as well. Our goal is that this is their forever home which is sometimes different for other group home models that are out there."

Zach Williams and his wife Crystal at this year’s Grammy Awards "I'm ready to play some new music and ready for people to hear the new songs," said singer-songwriter Zach Williams. "And to see how God is gonna speak through them and use them."

Those new songs are contained in his brand new album "Rescue Story." And the tale woven by the new collection starts with the title track.

"For me, that's maybe the most personal song I've written...It closely follows my own story,"

said Williams by phone from a concert stop in Lubbock, TX. The anthem cries, "You were the voice in the desert, calling me out of the dead of night...You are my rescue story."

The new song is already a rising fixture on Christian radio.

Another of the tunes is "Slave To Nothing," once again referring to his changed outlook. "People are gonna bring up things about your past," noted the artist. "But God is doing a new work in my life."

An informal moment with Bart Millard (center) and MercyMe Although staying fairly busy, it's been a while since the inspirational-pop band MercyMe had a top ten hit on Christian radio.

"It's probably good to go 'dark' for a little bit....people are getting tired of us," joked lead singer Bart Millard during a recent phone interview.

But now the Grammy-winning, platinum-selling band is embarking on its "Imagine Nation Tour" which stops at Grand Rapids' Van Andel Arena Oct. 13 .

The band's trajectory was changed with the release of last year's movie, "I Can Only Imagine." The film, bearing the name of the band's signature song, told Millard's life story involving his early estrangement and eventual reconciliation with his father.

It was a surprise hit, grossing $17 million its opening weekend in theatres eventually garnering more than $80 million worldwide.