8/31/2008

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



It started with kids showing up at 9:00 a.m. to get school supplies. Danny let them know to come back at 3:00 p.m. The same kids stopped me on the street at 10:00 to see if it was time yet.



During Morning Worship we had a chance for people to share some testimonies about different victories in their lives. Several people shared, including one man who’s a relative newcomer who hadn’t yet shared his story with the congregation.



We also learned that the nights on Sargeant Street had been especially rough over the weekend. One of the problems involved someone throwing a brick through Shirley’s living room window. We have a lot of members on that block and this kind of activity is unsettling for everyone. The cost of replacing the window is a big problem, too.



Immediately after the service Bryce and I started setting up the school supplies for distribution. The two of us worked for nearly three hours straight to get everything sorted, stocked, counted, and displayed. We had over 500 notebooks, over 600 pocket folders, 1300 pencils, and 226 boxes of crayons. We had many other things like markers, colored pencils, pens, rulers, pencil boxes, protractors, bottles of glue, and the like. We set things up in a “shopping” environment where each kid got to choose from the buffet (i.e. pack of glue sticks OR pack of erasers, pack of markers OR pack of colored pencils, one box of crayons AND one bottle of glue, etc.). We completely covered 4 of our 8-foot long tables with supplies while stacking many of the notebooks in boxes on the floor.



While we were setting up the new principal at Diggs-Johnson Middle School stopped by. She had come from her church and was going to spend the afternoon getting ready for Monday’s opening. She didn’t know we were distributing supplies but came by hoping someone would be there who she could ask for prayer for her school.



We opened the doors to the kids at our regular Kids’ Church time. Tameeka, the mom of a few of our kids and a youth worker at the local AME church, came in with her kids and immediately took over the registration table for us and staffed it for the first 45 minutes. Over the next couple of hours over 160 kids came through to get supplies. For the record, that’s 40 more than last year and 100 more than two years ago. By the time it was over, we had only some boxes of crayons and a few notebooks left.



One parent stopped to visit with me while her son and daughter were getting supplies. She talked about how she and her husband “aren’t religious” but that their son is in scouts and wants to earn his religion badge. She asked if we could help him do that and we were glad to say yes.



Scott and Damon were back from the Beach Retreat in time for Evening Worship. They shared about their experiences there. Much of the prayer time during that service revolved around items related to the start of school and the start of new jobs.



Afterward we cleaned up from the school supplies distribution and set up for the start of SonRisers. As I was locking up around 7:15 I realized that I hadn’t left the building since getting there to put the finishing touches on Morning Worship. I was glad nothing was on the church schedule for Monday.



I got a call this week from Kathy. Her nephew had been hospitalized and was in a coma. I was able to visit at the hospital and visit on the phone a few times to help support through the decision to remove life support. He passed away on Friday.



On Tuesday morning a kid knocked on my door. He was having trouble getting started in school this year and was more than disappointed in the school situation he finds himself in. We spent some time on the front steps talking about options and what he should do. I learned on Saturday that he started back at school on Wednesday.



Wednesday morning brought the return of SonRisers. 64 kids participated in the activities. It was good to see kids we hadn’t seen all summer and to see them in new uniforms. The middle school changed its hours and now starts nearly one hour earlier than it did the last couple of years. This basically cuts the amount of time we’ll be open in half. If we can keep participation at levels similar to last year, we’ll need to rework our procedures as to get that many kids through in half the time.



Wednesday night’s Adult Disciples group studied the book of Philippians. This was the last Adult Disciples time for a few months. We’re taking a break from it to free up some time in our schedules for the Family Bowling Nights. We’ll resume classes once the 10 bowling sessions are over.



We spent some creative energy this week figuring out how to get our booth at the Pigtown Festival electrified so we can market our upcoming Family Bowling Nights. Through this and tapping into Gloria’s network in the community we were able to come up with a plan. The only cost involved was to accidentally find ourselves squarely in the middle of a raging battle between two neighborhood organizations. One group asked us to mediate while the other group seems uninterested in coming to the table.



I spent several hours this week trying to track down replacement parts and bulbs for our exterior lights which were vandalized last weekend. Though they were originally purchased at a big box home improvement store, that store doesn’t sell replacement bulbs, much less parts, for the lights. Neither did its competitors. Joshua, our recent graduate of electricians’ school, came around on Friday to tell me what to look for next since we couldn’t get his first choice of things needed to make the repair.



Friday night brought Pizza Church. No one came to the first session but the other two were well-attended. The second group finished its study of the life of Joseph while the senior high group started its study of the Gospel of John. Afterward, Tamara, Jenn, Sarah, and I met to talk about camp and related youth ministries.



Also on Friday evening the position of Associate Pastor was posted. If you are interested in knowing more about this opportunity, please follow the link http://www.cofchrist.org/hr/jobs.asp



I’ve been talking with our young adults about voting and being registered to vote. We’ve gotten one registered and two more have asked me to bring in the forms (Gloria and I are both registrars). We’ll be talking about that with the whole congregation over the next couple of weeks.



Saturday was a day to tie up lots of loose ends. We updated the front sign with the fall schedule. I stopped by an elderly man’s house to help him get his DTV box set up on his television. We caught up with a few members who we hadn’t seen for a few weeks to see what was going on with them. I also had one parent stop me to thank me repeatedly for the school supplies all his kids got last Sunday.



When I went in the back room of the church Saturday evening I realized that we hadn’t finished taking down the decorations from Bible School. Had we not already started we could have left them for church but since they were already partially down the rest had to come down, too. I walked around the block and recruited Sammy and Damon to steady the ladder and to catch things as I took them off the wall.



Just as we started a thunderstorm rolled in. A couple of women with a baby ducked under the canopy at the back door to take shelter. We invited them in and they stayed with us until the rain cleared.



Looking ahead to next week we have our full schedule of activities. In addition, we’ll be making final preparations throughout the week then staffing our booth at the Pigtown Festival on Saturday. We’ll also be updating our fliers and completing our marketing signs for Family Bowling Night. On Wednesday during Adult Disciples we’ll be testing all the equipment to make sure we’re ready for bowling. I’m meeting with a parent support committee leader from the elementary school after SonRisers Wednesday morning.



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



The Jones Family

The King Family

The Latham Family

The Bolaski Family

The Meile Family

The Brown Family

The Shorter Family

The Ayers Family

The Hardy Family



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