9/6/2009

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

It started out Sunday with Morning Worship. As we gathered 3 people brought in additional school supplies for the afternoon’s give-away. We started a series called, “If You,” where we explore places in scripture where God challenges us.

Mid-way through the message, Josh came in. He went up to his mother and whispered in her ear. She got a horrified look on her face and ran out. Patricia flagged him down and found out what was going on. She then shared with the group that Chester, a man who lives across the street from the church and who is friends with just about everyone at the church, had just jumped off the roof of another neighbor’s house.

We stopped the sermon and had a time of prayer then found a way to wind down the message and get some strength for what was ahead. During the closing song, Vonceil went outside to see if the congregation needed to exit the back door of the church to avoid a scene. The ambulance had already taken him away and he had jumped off the back of the house so the commotion on the street was limited to neighbors and police. I let people know this before the closing prayer.

After the service we had a few minutes to find out a few more details. It was definitely a drug-induced suicide attempt. Other details were sketchy and we had to leave the scene and get back inside because we needed to get ready for the distribution of school supplies.

While we were setting up Bobby and Christine came by to borrow a few of our old chairs for their daughter’s birthday party. We also had many people come to the church looking to see if they could get their supplies early, which of course they couldn’t.

At 3:00 we were ready. Vonceil, Tamara, Jenn, Sarah, Damon, Crystal, Fred, Carlo, Chris, and I were ready. Each kid who came could have 3 notebooks, 2 folders, 5 pencils, 2 pens, a couple of erasers, a choice of markers or colored pencils, a choice of a scissors, ruler, or pencil case, a choice of type of glue, and a box of crayons.

When we opened the door people were bunched up from the front door to the street. I announced instructions for the procedures for kids to receive their supplies then opened the door. Several people were disappointed that the kids themselves had to be present; no one could get supplies for someone who wasn’t there.

In the first 30 minutes 100 kids came through the line. Another 70 kids came through before we closed down at 5:45. Most of our supplies were completely cleared out. We could have given the kids an additional notebook and perhaps a couple of pencils each, but otherwise we ran short on most other things.

Toward the end a mom and dad and two kids who I didn’t know came through the line. By the time they got to my station at the end Mom was on the verge of tears. She let me know that with job losses they hadn’t been able to get any supplies for their kids to start school and how embarrassed and ashamed she’d felt about sending her kids in the morning empty handed. She was so relieved to find out now be able to send them to school with some basic supplies.

With the school supplies running low, we put a sign on the door saying that we were done with the distribution and turned out the lights in the back room. We then moved Evening Worship to the front room. The majority of people gathered were starting school this fall (either public school or college classes) so that was a focus for the discussion and prayer time.

After the service we got a jump-start on a couple of things that needed to happen during the week. With all the fresh data on kids and families (school supply sign-in sheets, Bible school registrations, etc.) we needed to send out a mailer in anticipation of next Sunday’s new format for Kids’ Church. Sunday night we sorted the data and finished the first edition of our parent newsletter for Kids’ Church.

On Monday Damon got a letter from Graceland University. He’s now been accepted there for fall 2010. I ran into him on Tuesday and he pulled the letter out of his backpack to show me.

Nearly 50 kids participated in our SonRisers activities on Wednesday morning. It was great to see all the kids we hadn’t seen since spring. We hadn’t done any marketing other than the sign at the corner so most of them remembered that it was Wednesday and came to the church that morning in hope that we would be there.

As we were cleaning up from that the first of the nursing students arrived. Their class met from 9:00 a.m. until mid-afternoon. They’ll be starting their home visits in a couple of weeks.

The bulk of the day Wednesday was spent making up the mailing labels for the newsletter. I had changed software since last doing this so it took a couple of tries to get it right.

That night after the NA Meeting we launched our new Mid-Week Service. This replaced Adult Disciples which finished an eleven year run in the spring. Bernice and Molly, who used to be active in church but who we hadn’t seen in a couple of years, both came to be a part of the group. During the time together, we read a Psalm, had some silent time, read and discussed a portion of Proverbs, then shared in prayer for needs in the community.

The dominant theme for prayer was the situation with Chester. He was still alive but not doing well. He had not regained consciousness, had suffered a stroke, was running a fever, and had a variety of other problems. The family and much of the neighborhood were still very much in shock about the situation.

We put together the mailing on Thursday so it could go in that day’s mail and arrive on Friday or Saturday. In it were the Kids’ Church newsletter and a copy of this fall’s weekly schedule. We sent it out to about 80 families in the area.

That afternoon I participated in a webinar through the Willow Creek Association. The topic they discussed wasn’t quite what I had anticipated because it didn’t apply to what we’re doing here.

When I was out visiting on Thursday night I was at first surprised how quiet it was on the streets. The weather was perfect for sitting on the steps. I then realized that the Ravens were playing and that most people were indoors with their televisions. Even with that I was able to bump into Melissa and her mother. I hadn’t seen them since Christmas time. They were waiting for a bus so we visited until it came.

Friday night brought Pizza Church. We had several new kids during the first session then small groups the rest of the night. As some of the new boys were walking out the door I heard one say loudly to the others, “I’m coming back here for this next week.” That’s music to my ears.

Afterward I learned that the doctors had met with Chester’s family earlier in the day. The recommendation of the doctors and the decision of the family was to remove the life support systems on Saturday.

I found a few people on Facebook that used to be active in the church when they were young but had moved away. I heard back from a couple of them. One is ready to graduate from high school and the other graduated last year and is in community college. It was good to reconnect with them and know that they’re doing well.

On Saturday we got a jump start on next week. We have a mailing going out to middle school and high school students to encourage participation in Pizza Church and Solid Rock Café. It’s to go in Wednesday’s mail so we were able to get all our addresses updated and the mailing labels printed out and attached to the postcards.

That evening after Damon and Robert had done some cleaning at the church we learned that Chester had died a little after 9:00 p.m. I walked around and visited with his friends, family, and neighbors for a while.

Looking ahead to next week we have our regular schedule of activities. In addition, we launch our new plan for Kids’ Church on Sunday. We’ll be lining up the visiting assignments for the nursing students this week. Thursday night is our monthly Priesthood Meeting. Saturday is the Pigtown Festival.

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

The Holmes Family
The Clark Family
The Starlipper Family
The Harrod Family
The Edwards Family
The Walker Family
The Carroll Family
The Weaver 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