Farewell to the Courageous

Last night at the Flushing Township Board meeting, five out of seven trustees voted to disband the Police Department in order to save money for the township. "The placed police officers on paid administrative leave while they negotiate a contract for service with the Genesee Country Sheriff's Department. If the contract is approved, it would provide four full-time deputies and 40% of a detective's time for $748,011 in the first year and $760,511. Salaries would amount to more than $544,00 of the costs each year" (Acosta). Only the chief and lieutenant would remain until negotiations are worked out. Flushing would be joining Fenton, Atlas, and Vienna Townships. Here is what I think of the situation.

If all works out, the Genesee County Sheriff's Department would only be providing four deputies for Flushing Township (Acosta). With a little over 10,200 residents, four deputies are not enough to answer all the emergency calls made in Flushing Township. Flushing Township spans 30.9 square miles. That is 7.7 square miles per deputy. No one can tell me that response times will be shorter. I believe they will be longer. For example if someone hits a deer and there are no deputies around then the person is stuck waiting for who knows how long.

After reading all the comments made on my status on facebook earlier I have decided to write a blog about this. Apparently there are people who care more about contracting police service through the Genesee County Sheriff's Department than they do about the courageous men and women who lost their jobs because of the selfish and greedy politicians we have on the Flushing Township Board of Trustees. They have run this township into the ground. If you want to argue with me, tell me one good thing the Board of Trustees has done for the Township. Tell me one promise they have kept. Be bold and tell me that they haven't made any mistakes. You can blame the past Boards for this mess but it is the present Board who raised taxes. It is the present Board who dismantled the Police Department. The present Board has done nothing to help the people. Instead they have made themselves look good. All they do is sugarcoat and fluff up the information instead of giving it to the people straight up. I can say this because I have been to board meetings and they just sugarcoated everything trying to make it look good. If you have not lived in Flushing Township your whole entire life-you are not allowed to judge or voice your opinion about the past Township Boards of Trustees because you have no idea how they ran the Township. I have lived in Flushing Township my entire lie and it was never this bad.

My heart goes out to the officers who were laid off and to their families. It is never fun being out of work. They are the ones who risked their lives everyday. They are the ones who were the first responders to emergencies. They are the ones who risked their lives when they had to pull someone for drinking, illegal drug use and dealing, speeding, and seatbelt infractions. In a split secodn their life could have been taken by a wreckless driver or by a person who had weapon on them. As citizens we need to care about these police officers instead of ways in which the township can save money. My prayer is that these man and women who faithfully served with Flushing Township Police Department find work where their community will actually appreciate their hard work and the sacrifices they made each and everyday. I also pray that they find work where they will be treated as professionals and not as second rate.

I know God has a plan for my community but it is hard to think of the blessings we as a township will miss out on because we were arrogant and full of ourselves.
 
I leave you with these questions. How can you have trust and respect for a township board who just wants to make themselves look good? How can you have trust and respect for a township board who does not even care about the people they are representing or how their decisions will affect them? How can you can sleep with a clear conscience knowing that men and women who served so faithfully as police officers in Flushing Township are out of work?

www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2012/02/flushing_township_disbanding_p.html

www.city-data.com/township/Flushing-Genesee-MI.html

The Way Home

I recently watched a movie called 'The Way Home' with mom. It was an incredible and inspiring movie based on the true story. It is about a two-year old boy, Joe Simpkins who disappeared from his home in Carroll County, Georgia for about eight hours. His father, Randy Simpkins, left him outside riding his tricycle while he went in to turn off the lights and lock up the house. When he returned back outside little Joe was gone. The next eight hours would make his emotions feel like a rollercoaster ride and cause his priorities regarding God, his family, and community to be tested. The disappearance of Joe Simpkins brought his parents back together and his whole community was involved with the search. Eight hours later, little Joe was found by Ed Walker and his son Terry.  Little Joe was reunited with his parents and because of all that went on during those eight hours of searching, it brought his parents back together.


As I watched the movie, it really got me thinking. I realized that the relationships I have are very important. I realized that I need to keep building up those friendships. 


I also thought of a shepherd watching over his flock. When one sheep wanders from the herd he goes through all measures to find to find the lost sheep. After he finds it, he keeps the sheep the close to him so it won't stray again. 

As Christians, when we wander far from God, he will gently bring us back to Himself even if it means breaking us. Sometimes He will. He will bring trials into our life that will make us depend on Him and focus on Him more. It will also make us trust Him more. 


Continue to trust God and depend on Him.

If Mary and Joseph Used Facebook.mp4

Ministry is Everywhere

I don't really know what to title this but recently I was going through my notes in my Bible and I found some notes from a message I heard in Ministry Chapel last year at Word of Life. Thought I would share it with you guys.

The speaker spoke about ministry.

1. Who does ministry?
1. all of us-We all have a ministry=full time.
2. Who do we minister to?
1. We minister to the body of Christ.
1. We are to grow in all areas of life.
2. We minister to one another.
3. We minister to everyone we come into contact me.
4. We minister to wherever there are people. 
1. God knows where our ministry is. 
2. In order to know where our ministry is, we need to know God.
3. The core and heart of ministry is loving people. 
4. We need to put off our old selves and put on the new self. 
1. We need to become so possessed with the mind of Christ to become more and more like Christ.
5. What is the benefit of ministry? The speaker used the example of expository preaching.
1. Genuine Christians who go to church in a real church.
2. Christians think biblically
3. They develop conviction where there is clarity. 
4. Everyone's belief is tested at every text

I took a lot from this message I heard. You may be asking yourself why I have chosen to write on this topic. Well I have been told to start out small in ministry like working in nursery, in the preschool class during Sunday school, and also helping out on Wednesday nights. It is taking me a little bit to get on board with the whole idea because I feel ministry shouldn't be treated as different levels. Ministry is ministry no matter where you are. Ministry can be when you're making coffee on a Sunday morning for fellowship time. Ministry can be when you are working sound for a morning service. It can even be when you are just having a conversation with someone on facebook or even skype. Ministry is everywhere.

Welcome

Hey everyone! Over the past few months I have been debating on whether or not to start blogging but have decided to. Welcome to my blog. I hope all that I post will be an encouragement to you and will cause you to think a little a bit.


Since June I have been working on raising support for a potential missionary internship to South Korea. Support as been coming in at an extremely slow pace and I have honestly become discouraged over the past few months. I know that God is sovereign and in complete control of every situation.

Right now, I am currently looking for ways to get more involved in my local church along with finding a part-time job as well. It has been encouraging though having friends and family standing by my side during this past few months.

I look forward to posting more and more over the next few months and into the months beyond that.