SUMMER 2025 Volunteer Opportunity
Mayflower outreach partner, 
Family Promise of West Michigan, has a summer volunteering opportunity through their Partners in Housing program. Help rehab a manufactured house to make it a beautiful and affordable home for a family coming out of homelessness. Tasks may include painting, small demo, yard work, trash removal, hanging blinds, cleaning, etc. Usually this takes place in groups of 3-8 people during the work week (9am - 12pm or 1pm - 4pm), or on Saturdays from 10am - 1pm. Email volunteer@familypromisewm.org to get on the calendar for that! They have a lot of dates still open for July or August. They ask that volunteers are 15 or older for this opportunity.
LOCATION: 516 Cherry St. SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49503
Urban Family Ministries exists to strengthen families and change lives by sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ within the urban core of Grand Rapids through relational, spiritual, and economic empowerment. We desire to build personal relationships with our neighbors, walking alongside them as we experience the struggles and joys of life together. This provides us many opportunities to be examples of Jesus Christ and to share His life-transforming hope, love, and power.
Upcycle Bikes is a nonprofit organization that works to give a transportation resource to people in the community who have no transportation. Old and unused bikes are donated to Upcycle Bikes and we make them like new again. We clean them and replace old parts to make them safe and fun to ride. People in our community who need a way to move around the city can now get to school, to work, to the doctor, to the grocery store, and to wherever they need to go! Can you imagine NOT having any form of transportation?
If you have bikes in your garage or shed that are not being used, or if you are getting a new bike, please bring your old or unused bikes to:
Upcycle Bikes (by appointment)
800 Monroe Ave. NW
REI of Grand Rapids
3149 28th St.
Pedego of Grand Rapids
6744 Cascade Rd. SE
Alger Bikes
120 28th St. SW
Aquinas College (Campus Safety)
1700 Fulton St. E
SUMMER 2025 UPDATE: Lasting Fruit
The summer is off to a fruitful beginning for EFM Congo. We continue to see good things from the seeds we planted during our Faith Restoration workshops in April and May. Pastors and church leaders are returning to ministry with new hope of what the Lord is doing in their churches and communities. One woman in Lac Vert testified about what the workshops did for her:
“[The militias] took everything I had and I came back home with empty hands.… Bandits broke the doors of many shops, including my husband’s. Today, we do not have any work, and money we had in the banks is not accessible. In this situation, we had lots of questions. We were among people who were faithful to pay the tithe. But surprisingly, God didn’t protect our belongings. Here is the feeling where EFM met us. Very discouraged, we started to never again attend church. But the workshop brought by EFM took us from discouragement and gave us back our faith and confidence in God. We praise God for EFM because now we are in the church and we have faith that the God who helped Job, Jeremiah and Daniel will help us at the right time.”
Returning to Murambi
We’ll be returning to Murambi in early July to conduct a Peace Building workshop. Murambi was the last place we conducted a workshop before militias overtook the region at the beginning of the year. Praise God we are able to return! Given the recent violence, our workshops are more essential than ever, and this is evidence of God’s faithfulness to these people. Please pray that we will see some of the same participants, as well as others seeking spiritual renewal. Marcel also asks for ongoing prayers for wisdom, patience and endurance for the EFM team “as they navigate a place of people with wounded hearts.”
Trauma Care
Marcel has been speaking with a well-respected female doctor in the Goma region about partnering with a local hospital that provides medical and psychological support to women traumatized by sexual violence. EFM has developed a training vetted by an expert in the field that we will implement in August-September. Through hospital transportation service, care coordination, and family reintegration, we plan to support several women in a local church who have suffered recent sexual violence. Gender based and sexual violence has been prevalent in the eastern DRC. EFM will work with existing community trauma care programs and build on our earlier trauma workshop in Kasindi.
Over many years, Mayflower has developed a strong relationship with Mulick Elementary School, serving their students as reading, and sometimes math, mentors. Our mentorship program has steadily grown from six volunteers in 2018 to nearly twenty today. Our parents and students spend the high school lunch hour working with first and second-grade students, focusing on learning sight words and beginning reading skills.
We have found that this school-year-long commitment not only makes difference in the lives of the elementary students, but in the high schoolers' lives as well.
Mayflower supports Kevin and Susan Fry,
Founders and Directors of Eden Ministries Inc. and Eden Children’s Village, in their mission to care for and raise orphaned and disadvantaged children while preparing them for adult life as productive citizens of the Kingdom of God.
LOCATION: Doma, Zimbabwe, Africa
This van, with the word “HOPE” wrapped around it and the phrase “you are loved and valued” printed on its side, travels to encampments around our city to bring much needed services to those in need and those without housing.
We are grateful for the outreach efforts of Mel Trotter and proud to be a part of this important work!
LOCATION: 225 Commerce Ave SW, Grand Rapids, MI 49503 / (616) 454-8249
Mayflower is excited to team up with New City Kids – GR in support of their programs.
Mayflower cyclists are invited to join New City Kids (NCK) on Aug. 10 for a fundraising event! Cyclists will bike from the NCK location to Second CRC in Grand Haven. Funds raised through the Bike Tour will support NCK programming, including hiring more than 60 Teen Life Interns and providing quality programs to our students. Scan QR code or visit newcitykids.org/biketour2024 for details.
Safe Haven operates an emergency safe shelter which is available for individuals and families fleeing domestic abuse. During their stay residents receive ongoing case management and support.
The shelter operates a pantry for residents and Mayflower is committed being a community Pantry Partner by filling it with the MOST NEEDED items by the first 2 weeks of March.
LOCATION: 2627 Birchcrest Dr SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49506
New City Farm offers pickups at our main site, called the Farmhouse, located at 1115 Leonard Street NE, in the Creston Neighborhood. We offer a great selection of quality, naturally grown produce with no synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, or GMO’s to our farm shareholders for 33 weeks, May through December. Share sizes vary by season to fit your family’s needs and can be picked up weekly. We accept EBT. U-pick and fresh cafe selections offered seasonally. Our mission is to empower youth to reach their full potential.