Penny has always enjoyed flowers. Flowers were one of her frequent “doodles”.
Each spring we would go to one of the local gardens (usually Romence Gardens) to get a few plants for the front and back yard. And she appreciated the flowers people sent over the time of her illness.
But there is a limit to how many flowers one can enjoy at one time, and all three of our children are allergic to many flowering plants (and especially eucalyptus, which sometimes shows up in planters). Furthermore, Penny aggreed that it would be nicer to do something with a more lasting impact since she won’t be able to enjoy the flowers anyway.
So in lieu of flowers, we encourage people to donate to the Sherman Street Church Memorial Fund set up to support two missionary families that we know.
Carlos and Kimberley Verhulst live and work in Jarabacoa, Dominican Republic. Using the image of a table, their La Mesa Ministry opens space for stakeholders in churches and communities to come together, exchange ideas, find common goals, and develop concrete plans for positive impact.
Jeff and Lisa Boehm, serving with Youth With A Mission in Bangkok, Thailand, work to equip, send out, and support Thai nationals in Kingdom ministry. One way they do this is to support university graduates in further Biblical studies in order to equip them for their own kingdom ministry.
Penny visited the Boehms with groups of Calvin students traveling to Thailand and Cambodia in January of 2012, 2014, and 2016.
I am planning to travel with students to the Dominican Republic in January 2025 to help the communities there investigate better ways to have reliable access to clean water.
You can contribute to this memorial fund
by sending a check to
Sherman Street Christian Reformed Church
1000 Sherman Street
Grand Rapids, MI 49506
616.452.7034
Money contributed to this fund will be divided equally between the Verhulsts and the Boehms.