Jim West

Shortly after moving to greater-Philadelphia for a new job, Jim met Danny who became his spiritual mentor. Danny also introduced Jim to a local home repair charity called “Good Neighbors.” For over 10 years, Jim enthusiastically worked with brothers in Christ to help those less fortunate maintain their homes. After he & Pam moved back to Michigan and joined Oak Pointe, men in the west-side men’s group invited him to join them at a Life Remodeled project. While enthusiasm for Life Remodeled continues to the day, through those volunteer events, Jim met Pastor Kurt who recruited him to join the Cody Partnership.

Before COVID hit, Jim was participating in Cody Cleanup events, helping Cody’s master math teacher in her classroom, helping tutor in Oak Pointe’s Book Club and serving as a mentor for Cody’s FIRST Robotics team. Following the pandemic outbreak, Jim came out of retirement and went back to work until last June when retirement took hold again. Since then, he has jumped back into the Cody Partnership with both feet. He will tell anyone who will listen about the tremendous blessings he receives from his volunteering activities. He says that: “Having a meaningful purpose helps bring Heaven to earth.”

We often talk about the different activities of the Cody Partnership – mentoring, Cody clean-ups, tutoring, Robotics, meetings, etc. These are all significant and tangible ways to provide assistance to students and staff. Our team draws joy from that, too. But the truth is that these activities are really the avenue to build relationships. It’s the people that matter most. It’s always the people that matter most.

Our mission is to love people. We love them as a reflection of how Jesus loves us. That is how we can both know Jesus and make Him known in the Cody community. Loving people allows us to build relationships that can lead to discussions that can lead to decisions to follow Jesus. In conjunction with all the activities that we engage in, it’s always about people.

Charlotte Smith

Not coincidentally, Ms. Smith grew up in the Cody Rouge neighborhood. Following frustrating stints at Schoolcraft College and EMU where she had no advisors and received no guidance, she landed at Madonna College where she completed her bachelor’s degree in English & History and then added three Master’s degrees! She has served at Cody High School for 26 years and has consistently refused promotions that would take her focus away from the kids, making sure they have all the guidance they need. In addition to teaching English, she coaches the Yearbook team, administers the National Academies Foundation and teaches a special and very popular class called “creating great customer service,” which helps students better navigate their lives after high school.

Charlotte was right there when Oak Pointe converged on Cody HS along with Life Remodeled. She gladly pitched in with Pastor Kurt and his Oak Pointe teams to do whatever could be done to serve students. Some of us remember that the late Dave Gulau was instrumental in launching the Cody Partnership. Illustrating how small our world can be, Charlotte went to high school with both Dave and his wife. Nevertheless, she was skeptical when Oak Pointe pledged to serve Cody for 3-5 years since she had seen so many other organizations come and go. In contrast, more than eight years later, Charlotte sees and cherishes Oak Pointe’s broad commitment to the school. Oak Pointe folks would regularly test the waters to see what ideas might work, both inside and outside the school (like 707). She has referred to Oak Pointe as “a merry band of elves” who would do whatever they were asked regardless of their very different socio-economic backgrounds.

Charlotte prays that everyone will continue what they started since Oak Pointe plays such a vital role at Cody High School, impacting both the students and the staff. She can’t imagine Cody without Oak Pointe. She closed our chat by stating that “At Cody, Oak Pointe is family, and the kids know it!”

For Christmas, I made shadow boxes with this short saying for each of my children and their families. It’s simple, but it’s not always easy. But it’s important to try. Even when I fail, I try to remember to err on the side of love. God does not ask me to judge others, but He does command me to love them. This can look like so many things – praying, offering an encouraging word, sharing hard truths, giving grace.

It can be especially hard to love others that are not like you. But remember that God loves us, even though we are nowhere close to being like Him. One way to love others is by recognizing and stepping into differences. Stepping into the humanity of others, instead of the differences in circumstances or backgrounds. Starting with an understanding that all of us are created in God’s image, that all fall short, and that we all need God. Then lean into love, whatever it looks like in that moment.

As one of my friends is fond of saying – love wins.

Pam Diephuis

Pam has been volunteering with the Cody Partnership since January 2016.

She grew up in a Christian home in the Grand Rapids area, attending Christian schools from K-12. As the oldest of six kids, and following her parents’ divorce, she found herself playing a significant “mothering” role for her five siblings. It wasn’t until after high school that she felt she actually had a childhood. That led to some poor decision making which then led to a serious motorcycle accident.

Her first encounter with Jesus was during her recovery from the accident, resulting in a re-evaluation of her life. She went on to get her LPN and RN nursing degrees. It was her work at a psychiatric hospital that exposed her love for building relationships.

Later, while attending a church with no outreach, she felt like a change was needed and found a large, outreach-oriented church where she immersed herself in the kids’ ministries. After moving to Novi, she attended Bible study at Oak Pointe. She challenged her high school-aged son to find a youth group, and he picked 707 at Oak Pointe. So the entire family started to attend Oak Pointe 13 years ago.

Prayerfully, she asked God “Where do you want me?” When Pastor Kurt started the Cody Partnership, even though frightened, she decided to “put on her boots.” Kurt led her to the book club that has subsequently led to powerful relationships with many Cody students. She has been diligent in getting kids out of the school and their homes to show them life outside their neighborhoods and expose them to the wonders of Jesus Christ. Eventually, Pam also joined Bill Gaines at Mann Elementary, helping with both the reading tutoring and the JAM (Jesus and Me) Club.

The Cody Rouge community is a different world, even though it is only 25 miles from the church’s door. Every time Pam has stepped into the unknown in faith, she has been richly blessed by God. She is convinced you will be blessed as well when you join her.

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, compassion is the “sympathetic consciousness of others’ distress together with a desire to alleviate it.” There are numerous synonyms (empathy, pity, concern) but what sets compassion apart is the call to action. It is not just feeling for somebody else, it’s stepping into their situation and doing something. When I think of Jesus showing compassion toward others, it is compassion and……something.

For whatever the reason, how often do I look past someone deserving of compassion because I can’t be bothered? We don’t have the capacity to step into every situation, but God does place people in our lives that we need to pay attention to. I pray that I will remain attentive to those opportunities and invest in them.

“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.” – 1 Peter 4:10