Not in vain

Well, I survived my first "Devil's Night" in Detroit. Uneventful, thankfully. I don't think it's quite what it use to be. There were patrol cars driving all over and well, didn't see any fires!
Life has started to get busy here. I'm beginning to see some of the challenges of inner-city work. Not that I didn't know they were there, but once you experience them, you realize just how much is at stake here and with these young lives. Last night, I found out one of our boys witnessed a shooting/murder. He's only 11Another one of my high school girls is making some bad decisions. She just returned home after being gone for 6-7 months, but then left again. It can all just feel so overwhelming. God just keeps bringing things to mind to encourage me. First off, the reminder that anything these kids learn is not waisted. They may wander away and make poor choices, but at one point, they heard the truth. And God can bring it back to their mind and hearts. Also, that even though the enemy is definately on the prowl here, we know God is much stronger and will be victorious. "What we do in Jesus' name is never in vain" I was thinking this morning about how at one time, I wanted to go into foreign missions. It's so neat how God lead me here. There is such a strong need in the city, yet it is so often forgotten about.
On a more positive note, we had a meeting this Sunday with some young people interested in volunteering. It was really encouraging. At least two of them have already begun to become involved. It is a great answer to prayer to have more volunteers around (and two of them are guys, another answer to prayer!)
Also, my time with the girls is still going great. I took one of our high schoolers out a couple of weeks just to spend some time with her. It was really neat to just talk with her one on one, have some fun and get to know her better. It's something I want to do with all of the girls eventually. Some of the older girls have walls built that it is very hard to get through. It takes time, and a lot of trust building. The junior high girls on the other hand are much more open, but at the same time, your typical goofy junior high girls! Please pray that as we go through the foundations of Christianity with them that they would learn and grow in their walks with Christ, or make a decision to follow Him.
Please keep praying for these kids!!

Yard work!

One of the neighbor boys has been wanting to mow our lawn for awhile, and it really needed it! So on Tuesday he came by and mowed. His siblings(who all come to HPCO) also came and joined in the fun. William racked up the grass and leaves(which included sweeping them with his mom's old broom), and Ajaia helped me bag them(she was all dressed up for her birthday). It was fun being out in the yard, enjoying the nice weather and spending time with the kids. It reminded me of how blessed I am to be here. I also met a couple of teen girls who live two houses down. They came out and joined us for a bit.

Junior High Girls

Last night, we had our first Jr.High girls night. This is something I've been really excited about starting. We have a great group of girls around that age and it's great to start working with them with more mentoring and discipleship. Unfortuantely, my partner in crime (Melissa) was sick last night, so I had the girls on my own. Only four came, which was a good amount. I could tell that at first, they were skeptical as to whether or not they would actually enjoy this. They asked questions like, "Isn't anyone else coming?" "Can I invite a friend?" But once we got here, they seemed to enjoy themselves. It was just a hang out night, since it was our first one. We looked at pics from day camp, had ice cream sundaes and made posters which described ourselves. About a half hour into it, I could see they were having fun. At the end of the night we went out on the swings and played a little game I taught them. One of the girls, Brittany is just transitioning from Kids Club to jr high. Over the last year, she seemed really withdrawn when she was around. I tried to make extra effort to involve her. We played baskeball a lot and hung out(this pic is of her and I)I feel like I can relate with her a lot. She's not very girlly and would rather do sporty stuff. Last night, she really seemed to come out of her shell. She enjoyed being with the girls and was very talkative. Next week, we're starting our Bible study. It's going to be on a series entitled, "Knowing what I believe". One of the girls is totally new to the program, and it does't seem like she has any church background. I'm excited to see where this series takes us and what the girls learn through it.

The Reasons...

After our first night of Kids Club, I am reminded of why I am here. Or better put, why I WANT to be here. I am ultimately here because it's where God has lead me. He has me here for a purpose. It's so amazing to see His plan and the way He works!
Seeing all of our kids again last night energized me like nothing else. I loved it. I was extremely excited to pick them all up and hear all about what they've been up to and all their crazy stories. They are the reason that a white little suburban girl like me moved to a Detroit 'hood!(I've put some pics of my little ones so you can see just how fun they are!) A few days ago, I was calling families to let them know about club. Those I couldn't reach, I went to visit. I saw quite a few of our kids. They were all so excited to be coming back. One of our little boys ran up to me and said "Miss Sawah(has trouble with his "r's"), I remember the song!" and he went on to sing a song from day camp called "I've got confidence", which talks about confidence in God's protection.
The energy level was high last night. The kids all come after a long day of school. They played outside for awhile and enjoyed one of our last beautiful evenings. One of our volunteers, Jennifer, taught the Bible lesson. She presented the Gospel by talking about sin and how it destroys us. The kids then broke up into small groups with the volunteers and went over questions about the lesson.
It is definately stretching for me to be in a leadership position. I am more comfortable with people telling me what to do! But, it is and will be a good growing experience. I realized this week how much being taken out of my comfort zone really forces me to rely on God. John, my boss, has been great about coming along side of me and showing me the way.
Tonight, we start our senior high girl mentoring. I'm getting ready to pick the girls up soon. It's so great to be in the swing of things here. Please pray as to how God will use this school year in the lives of our youth. We really want to build off of all that the kids learned this summer and continue the momentum that we had with them. Also, pray for more volunteers who are willing and committed to the work here. We are especially in need of good strong male leadership to work with our boys. Last weekend, John and I presented HPCO at a couple of churches and got some response from people who were interested in helping out. It was very encouraging, so we'll have to see how that works out.
Well, I better go finish getting things ready for tonight. God bless!