Joel B Groat, Exec Dir-RPM

Wishing you a joyful and restorative Labor Day weekend! I hope it’s filled with relaxation and happiness with your family and friends. 🌟 ❤️
Deseandole un fin de semana de gozo y restauración. Espero que se colme de alegría y relajación con vuestra familia y amistades. 🌟 ❤️

Our office will be closed on Monday, September 2, in celebration of the holiday. We’ll be back to assist you on Tuesday, September 3!
Nuestra oficina estará cerrada el lunes 2 de septiembre para celebrar el día feriado. Estaremos de regreso el martes, 3 de septiembre para asistirle.

May you be blessed with the time to enjoy and nurture your most important relationships.
Que seas bendecido con el tiempo de disfrutar y nutrir tu relaciones más importantes.

Excited to thank, encourage, and challenge my faith family at Friendship Christian Reformed Church this morning with all the great things that God is doing through Roosevelt Park Ministries.

Roosevelt Park Ministries, where I'm director, is in need of a good condition used lawn mower and string trimmer. We purchased the property next door and need to keep grass mowed and weeds cut down. The most practical for us would be something battery powered.
If you donate one or both we can give you a donation receipt for the market value as an in-kind donation.

I'm happy to pick up, or if you want to deliver it I'll buy you lunch at one of our local, awesome and authentic Mexican or Caribbean food eateries.
Feel free to share, and please DM me with ideas or options.
¡Muchisimas gracias!

🎉 Congratulations to all our amazing students who have successfully completed their ESL and computer literacy classes! 🎓🌟 We are incredibly proud of your hard work and dedication throughout this journey. 💪📚

¡🎉 Felicitaciones a todos nuestros increíbles estudiantes que han completado exitosamente sus clases de ESL y alfabetización informática! 🎓🌟 Estamos increíblemente orgullosos de su esfuerzo y dedicación durante este recorrido. 💪📚

Your commitment to learning and improving your skills is truly inspiring. 🌟 We have witnessed your determination and perseverance, and it has paid off! 🎉🙌

Su compromiso con el aprendizaje y la mejora de sus habilidades es verdaderamente inspirador. 🌟 Hemos sido testigos de su determinación y perseverancia, ¡y ha dado sus frutos! 🎉🙌

We hope that the knowledge and skills you have gained will open up new opportunities for you and empower you to achieve your dreams. 🌟🚀 Keep reaching for the stars and never stop learning! 🌟📚

Esperamos que los conocimientos y habilidades que han adquirido les abran nuevas oportunidades y les empoderen para alcanzar sus sueños. 🌟🚀 ¡Sigan alcanzando las estrellas y nunca dejen de aprender! 🌟📚

Once again, congratulations to each and every one of you. 🎉🎓 You are proof that hard work and dedication truly lead to success. Keep shining bright! ✨💫

Una vez más, felicitaciones a cada uno de ustedes. 🎉🎓 Son prueba de que el trabajo duro y la dedicación realmente conducen al éxito. ¡Sigan brillando con fuerza! ✨💫

RPM is hiring. We need at least two bilingual office people (must be fluent Spanish and English). Part-time hours with potential for full-time. Pay is negotiable based on position and level of experience, but would be no less than $16/hour. DM me with questions, more details, or recommendations on potential people. Muchas gracias!

“When feel stressed out I tend to get overwhelmed by my inadequacy to get everything done. And as I remember I’m a child of God and that is my most important role, and remember that God in me is greater than anything I’ll ever face, I can step back and breathe a little easier.”

Thanks, Ashley Elliot, for sharing this via YouVersion this morning - I needed this reminder.

https://www.bible.com/app

“He is risen, just like he said!”

Insightful and thought-provoking article for anyone who is passionate about leading well and finishing well.

Some Thoughts On Why MegaChurch Pastors Keep Falling Because, believe it or not, I think failure is in all of us. And yes, I think the seeds of failure are in me too. None of us are exempt.

So grateful for RPM's long-standing partnership with The Potter's House -- and being invited to be a part of this segment with them on EightWest this morning.

Local school partners with great organizations Local school partners with great organizations (sponsored)

It was good to get this reminder this morning from my Youversion plan.

“Your rest is not to be found in figuring your life out, but in trusting the One who has it all figured out for your good and His glory.”

All of us at Roosevelt Park Ministries are really grateful for Biggby Coffee Leonard/Fuller for refilling this huge mug for me at the last minute so our ESL and SSL students could have great coffee for our end-of-semester celebration! Thanks Josiah, you and your morning crew are the best! I promise to give you at least 24 hrs notice next time I bring it in. 🙂

Yay for Advent and a purple baby Jesus!
I loved this short, historically-rooted treatment of the term “Shalom” and concept of peace. These guys do their homework, and they aren’t afraid to come to conclusions that sometimes buck conservative traditional interpretations. 

BibleProject | Advent: Day 1 • Devotional

BibleProject | Advent For centuries, Christians around the world have used the four weeks leading up to Christmas to prepare themselves for the celebration of Jesus’ birth. It’s a time when we observe his first coming while we also look forward to his second coming. This 4-day plan will focus on hope, peace, joy, and...

So grateful for the MNA's generous support! Over 200 students enrolled this Fall 23 semester in our literacy classes.

Excited and grateful to share a quick report on Roosevelt Park Ministries this coming Sunday morning (11-5-23) at Central Reformed Church!

Sharing at CRC the exciting things God is doing through Roosevelt Park Ministries! Bridging cultures and languages with literacy and the love of Jesus.

Love doing our 7 Min Spanish segments with the talented and "amable" Benjamin (an RPM volunteer).
https://app.searchie.io/watch/R1q17wJRDP

¡Aaayyyy chihuahua! Blown away by how much Spanish our students have learned this semester. I love hearing them speak in full sentences - en español!
Hey guys - keep speaking more Spanish - Sigue hablando más español. ¡Felicidades!

https://youtu.be/7d6_kul4fnc
Watch our video intro to RPM's new round of ESL classes for the GR Hispanic community. So appreciate the Hispanic Center for hosting these next 10 weeks of classes.

Introducción a clases de inglés con RPM (ESL) Introducción sobre las clases de inglés ofrecidas por Roosevelt Park Ministries (RPM). Esta introducción se enfoca en las clases de Nivel 1 dadas en el Centr...

"For the needy shall not always be forgotten, and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever." (Psalm 9:18)

Really glad and grateful to work at a place that works to fulfill this promise on a daily basis.

Roosevelt Park Ministries: Building bridges between cultures and languages with literacy and love.

Send a message to learn more

Annual coat drive today. So exciting to serve our community with free winter coats and gear!

COFFEE AND CONVERSATION -- CAFE Y CONVERSACION
Huge shout out to Starbucks for supporting our language cafe with coffee and treats! They are helping us build bridges across languages and cultures.
All RPM members are invited to join us on Fridays. The cafe is open to practice your English and Spanish from 9-11am

Un millón de gracias a Starbucks por apoyar a nuestro café de idiomas con donaciones de cafe y meriendas. El café esta abierto para los miembros de RPM todos los viernes de 9-11 am.

¡Emocionado para comenzar este estudio - esta noche - lune 10 de octubre!

SCAM Alert: Fellow non-profit ministries and organizations - please be aware of this scam. We were targeted by name via email by the group in this report.

Be Innocent as doves, but wise as serpents.

Better Business Bureau: Be on the lookout for awards scam - Grand Rapids Business Journal At least two Grand Rapids-area small businesses recently were targeted by a bogus awards company, but instead of falling for it, they called the Better Business Bureau.

So exciting to watch our Level 1 SSL students learning new words, creating original sentences, and speaking Spanish. ¡Excelente trabajo! Another round of Spanish as a second language classes start on September 12.

Hey, you can help us help our Roosevelt Park Neighbors. Just pitch some pennies our way by shopping at the B2 store on Alpine this month and round up your total. Muchas gracias!

Got some great help this morning on being a resilient leader from Glenn Packiam via the Carey Nieuwhof Leadership Podcast.
Fav quote:
C.N. "I don't think there's anybody listening who doesn't want to be resilient. I mean, nobody wants to be roadkill. We don't want to crash and burn. What do resilient leaders do?
G.P. "Resilience is about recalibrating, it's about returning to the baseline of health. ... And for the Christian, that looks like returning to Jesus, to our first love."
https://careynieuwhof.com/episode492/

CNLP 492: Glenn Packiam on the Stacked Expectations Facing Pastors, the Misuse of Power in Leadership, and Why Leaders Struggle with the Illusion of Intimacy Glenn Packiam on the Stacked Expectations Facing Pastors, the Misuse of Power in... Glenn Packiam talks about how pastors are facing stacked expectations at a higher level than ever before, why so many struggle with false intimacy and how leaders misuse power to the detriment of others and themselves.

¡Tengo un nuevo trabajo! Ahora soy el Director Ejecutivo de Roosevelt Park Ministries (RPM). RPM es un pequeño ministerio urbano cristiano que trabaja en un área de Grand Rapids que es 70% hispana. Es una gran oportunidad para usar mi formación bilingüe y multicultural, mi formación teológica y mis décadas de experiencia en el ministerio cristiano para servir a RPM y la comunidad circundante.

He amado mis 34 años con IRR. Ha sido un trabajo increíble que me ha llevado por todo el mundo. Sin embargo, después de hablar con Roger Hansen, fundador y presidente de la junta de IRR, Rog decidió con mi partida que era hora de hacer la transición de los ministerios de IRR a otras personas y organizaciones. Más que nada, queremos que el trabajo que hemos comenzado continúe y se multiplique.

Así que mis próximas 3 a 4 semanas ayudarán a IRR a hacer esas transiciones, y también comenzaré mi nuevo trabajo con RPM.

El Dr. Rob Bowman, director ejecutivo de IRR de 2008 a 2018, supervisará y mantendrá nuestro sitio web y nombre IRR.org.

Nuestro grupo de Facebook Mormons In Transition (MIT) continuará brindando apoyo y dirección espiritual. Estaré transfiriendo la moderación del MIT a un equipo de administradores que supervisará al grupo de apoyo.

El programa de tutoría individual de IRR para mormones que cuestionan sus creencias también continuará. Serán dirigidos al pastor Ross Anderson en Utah y su ministerio Fe después del mormonismo, que brinda una amplia gama de apoyo a los mormones anteriores y en transición.

Juntos, todos nosotros en IRR trabajaremos durante las próximas semanas y meses para hacer la transición de cada componente del ministerio a manos competentes para que las personas a las que hemos servido continúen siendo bien atendidas.

I have a new job! I am now the Executive Director of Roosevelt Park Ministries (RPM). They are a small, Christian, urban ministry working in an area of Grand Rapids that is 70% Hispanic. It is a great opportunity to use my bilingual and multi-cultural missions background, my theological training, and my decades of experience in Christian ministry to serve RPM and the surrounding community.

I’ve loved my 34 years with IRR. It has been an amazing job that’s taken me all over the world. However, after speaking with Roger Hansen, IRR’s founder and board president, Rog decided with my departure it was time to transition IRR’s ministries to other people and organizations. More than anything else, we want the work we’ve started to both continue and multiply.

So my next 3 to 4 weeks will be helping IRR make those transitions as well as starting my new job with RPM.

Dr. Rob Bowman, IRR’s Executive Director from 2008-2018 will oversee and maintain our IRR.org website and name.

Our Mormons In Transition (MIT) Facebook group will continue providing support and spiritual direction. I’ll be transitioning moderation of MIT to a team of admins who will provide oversight for the support group.

IRR’s one-on-one mentoring program for Mormons questioning their beliefs will also continue. They will be directed to Pastor Ross Anderson in Utah and his Faith After Mormonism ministry which provides a wide array of support to former and transitioning LDS people.

Together, all of us at IRR will be working over the next weeks and months to transition each ministry component into competent hands so that the people we have served will continue to be well cared for.