Today was our Practice Justice Day and it was a fantastic day in the city of Detroit. We traveled to a neighborhood to help clean up an area where many homes were abandoned. Our project was to work on an alley that was overgrown and abandoned for use. This alley is several blocks long and when the clean up is complete, it will disappear and each home owner will get additional 400 sq feet of backyard that they will take care of. This entire project is being funded by Ron and he was beyond thankful for all the work we completed. We also had many people in the neighborhood thank us for being there. The day was very hot....but our kids were amazing, no complaints at all, just hard work.
The evening session once again was started with the house band getting us going. We had passes to the floor so the kids good join in on all the fun...and be right in the action. Rachel Kurtz opened up the evening with an incredible concert on the small stage and we were very close to her. It was a "HIGH" for a couple of our kids.
The speakers were incredible last night. Kyle Larson talked about his outdoor ministry and told us that church can be anywhere. He told us that "coasting is not what God calls us to do" that we should be involved where ever we are and that "the world will NOT ignore you."
Trip Lee did his God given gift of rapping. The kids in Ford Field were rapping with him! They all rushed the floor to get as good of view as possible. His ministry in his music definitely reaches out to many of our youth.
Veronica Scott had a very good message....she told us all we have to "do something now...don't wait...you never know whose life you might be changing" You could of heard a pin drop through out part of her message she also told us ""you just have to show up" which is exactly what the ELCA did and we'll continue to do as we go home.
The final speaker, Marian Edleman, civil rights activist who worked with Dr. King, was a show-stopper. Her analogy using Noah's Ark was perfect, She said "Don't miss the boat"... know that we are all in the boat together we call life. She also told us not to listen to naysayers and critics that the Ark was built by amateurs and that the Titanic was built by experts. She also said "you are the savior for many people, step up to the plate, always move forward and as you climb, leave the stairway to God!"
The evening ended with Skillet...what an incredible show these guys do. Anna told me that she saw them in Mankato when they were just starting where they sang to 30 people...last night they sang to 30,000!
Our week ends with Sunday worship in Ford Field. I want to thank Anna for the amazing job of planning this trip, I want to thank everyone that has prayed for us, I want to thank our amazing kids for the incredible job they did this week, I want to thank the Zion parents for allowing us to spend this incredible week with their kids (love them all so much), and I want to thank God for allowing us to sing, worship, meet new people, and serve him in the city of Detroit. See you tonight Minnesota!
Thanks Detroit for hosting us!
Ninja Dan
The dynamic duo! Dan and Olivia were prepared for a day of hard work in the summer.
Getting pumped for our day of service!
Kaylee is christ's hands and feet in the world
Putting signs on the street to let the community know the ELCA was here
Team work! It was amazing to see the progress we made in a few hours.
The community was so thankful we came to partner with them
They girls made a new friend, David. He lives in the community and came to help.
Olivia was silent for a WHOLE hour while still conscious. We were so proud of her. Anna owes her some ice cream.
Our entire group with Russ, the man whole lives down the street and is funding much of the work for the neighborhood.
Having so much fun in the cha cha line with our mustaches
Brady is always entertained by our constant dance parties! :-)
We mustache you a question!
We had an incredible experience in our floor seats
Marian Wright Edelman brought down the house
