6/9/2007

It's been a busy week at the Power House in Baltimore, Maryland.

It started out Sunday with a scheduled power outage. It was supposed to be from midnight until 8:00 a.m. but it was still out at 8:30 when the burglar alarm company called me to let me know that there was no power at the church. By 9:45 they were projecting that power would be restored around 1:00 p.m. so we put together alternate plans for Morning Worship. We finished those around 10:20 a.m. just as the electricity came back on. We reverted to our original plans but kept the others handy in case the power went out again.

With the power outage we anticipated a smaller group than usual for Morning Worship. When I stood up at 11:00 it was near a record small number since moving into the new building. Between 11:03 and 11:17, however, we nearly doubled the number of people present and ended up with an almost normal sized group.

During the service the air condition didn't work properly. Fortunately, it wasn't terribly hot outside so it was uncomfortable but survivable.

By mid-afternoon the weather had turned bad and it was pouring rain. Most people had sense enough to stay inside so only the Andersons were at Kids' Church.

After that service a couple stopped by the church looking for help. They said they were moving to Baltimore but that the woman's purse was stolen so they didn't have the phone number of her aunt they were supposed to be staying with. The man was to report to work on Monday. They had spent the night in the park but with the rain they were in real trouble. I got them connected with family in Pennsylvania who knew the aunt's phone number, but she wasn't home.

They asked about getting some money to run their things through the dryers at the laundromat. I don't carry cash and by that time Evening Worship was about to start. I wrote a note to Joe, the manager of the Laundromat, asking him to call me. They took it to him and he did. We worked it out for him to run the dryers and I would come over after church and cover it.

A few minutes later he called back again. He knew of a shelter I didn't know about and got them connected with it so they would have a better place to spend the night.

With the rain still coming down we had a small group at evening worship. With that, though, we had lots of good news and stories of answered prayers to share in the group. Those who didn't make it really missed out. Afterward we had communion for a couple of people there who weren't at Morning Worship.

Rachel arrived on Monday around 11:30 p.m. She's a World Service Corps volunteer from Oklahoma who will be working with the congregation. She'll be here through July.

She and I walked around the neighborhood a bit on Tuesday. We were able to meet and visit with a few people along the way. That night she and Gloria attended the monthly Friends of Carroll Park meeting.

Around 80 kids participated in Wednesday's SonRisers activities. We had scheduled a service call for the air conditioner at 7:00 a.m. so that it could be taken care of while we were already in the building. They didn't arrive until 3:30 p.m. For a hefty fee they found nothing wrong with the system and recommended that we call them if it happens again and pay the extra service fee for having them come on an evening or the weekend.

That evening we continued our "Summer of Love" by studying the love relationship between God and the Church's as described through some of the text of Song of Songs. Everyone stayed for the prayer time that followed. Once we were finished, activity moved to the Anderson's house where we had our monthly Priesthood meeting.

Rachel woke up sick on Thursday. We were able to work with her HMO to find a local doctor and pharmacy and get her taken care of.

On Thursday night during the Men's Group meeting the couple we helped on Sunday returned. They just came by to let me know that they were working and living with her aunt, that things were going well, and to thank us for the help on Sunday. Follow-through like that is rare.

Friday night brought Pizza Church. All three groups were attentive and participated well. During this time we started passing out packing checklists to those who are attending camp. Afterward a couple of boys who missed church stopped by to visit and try to con some food out of me. They were not successful.

Diane and Joe McNeil came by on Saturday afternoon. They were in town for Jenn and Tamara's upcoming ordinations. We got to visit with them, show them the new building, and give them a few ideas about things to do on their upcoming trip to New York.

We had a very small group gather for Solid Rock Cafe on Saturday evening. Because it was small and they were all well behaved we let them help clean up afterward.

Two of the kids who were there told us that they had summer jobs and wouldn't be able to go to camp as planned. Their boss had indicated that there would be some flexibility so that they could go on vacations so we wrote up letters about this to see if they could get time off and still earn money this summer for school supplies and clothes.

With summer upon us we have many events in addition to the regular schedule that can keep me away from the computer on Saturday evening. For the next couple of months "THIS WEEK at the POWER HOUSE" will be a bit more sporadic than usual. On the weeks you don't get a report, please spend some extra time in prayer on our behalf as you'll know that lots of extra things hare happening.

Looking ahead to next week we'll have our regular schedule of activities. In addition, Tamara will be ordained a Priest and Jenn an Elder during Morning Worship. Kris and Peter Judd and Diane McNeil will be in from out of town to participate in that service. We'll have a luncheon immediately afterward. Wednesday will be our last SonRisers for the school year. Throughout the week Rachel will be, among other things, working on painting over graffiti that has damaged our murals. We'll also be touching base with those registered for camp and finishing up preparations for it.

Along with the individuals and activities mentioned, please keep the following individuals in the forefront of your prayers:

Davontay
Helen
Davon
Chester
Brianna
Angelea
Michelle
Sarah
Jackie

Thank you for your continued prayer support.

Jeff and everyone at
The Power House
"Building the Kingdom of God Here and Now"
PowerHouseMD@Juno.com
www.pigtownchurch.org