9/9/2007

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

It started out Sunday with our celebration of the Lord's Supper at Morning Worship. As people were gathering for the service, though, we learned that Mark, a young adult who used to participate in church activities, had been jumped and stabbed the night before. Fortunately, this happened just a couple of blocks from University Hospitals. The doctors said that if this had happened even a couple blocks further away from the hospital he would not have survived.

At Kids' Church we learned the story of Noah. We had a sticker sheet for the kids to work on that we didn't think would take very long so we had a second craft ready. The kids, however, really got into the sticker sheet and even went a little over time in working on it.

While at Kids' Church Shirley told me that Mark had been released from the hospital. I stopped by between services for a short visit. He was looking a little rough but was able to be sitting up and watching a movie.

As a part of our Evening Worship activities we celebrated Janet's retirement. She and Earl brought a cake and punch for us to share in the celebration.

Once things were finished and we were carrying things back to Earl and Janet's van, Aries came up the street. He had moved to North Carolina over the summer and was up for a visit. He came inside to visit with Tamara, Jenn, and me. He and his brother are doing really well and seem too busy to miss city life.

On Tuesday a church member stopped by my house. Her boyfriend was in jail and she was trying unsuccessfully with a bail bond company to get him out. I wasn't much help either.

Gloria was out of town so Shirley took her place at SonRisers on Wednesday morning. We had 67 kids participate, 29 for the first time this school year.

We had another big NA meeting that evening. Afterward, the Adult Disciples group continued its study of the book of Hebrews. Most people had to leave before our prayer group time but those who remained had a powerful session together.

On Thursday I had Joshua install some plugs in our house. I think this was his first job since graduating.

Robert joined with Men's Group this Thursday night. As a part of the meeting we decided what book we would read together next.

We've been tossing around an idea this week in developing a fellowship ministry for our young adults (18-24ish) revolving around Baltimore Ravens football games. With all the extra things in the schedule and members of the leadership team in and out of town we've been doing this through an email discussion instead of a physical meeting. We hope to come to a decision early next week.

Friday night brought Pizza Church but it initially didn't bring any pizza. There was an error at the pizza place and they skipped our order. This is the first significant error in nearly 10 years so it wasn't too bad. We let those who were at the first group stay late until the pizza arrived so they could eat.

On Saturday Tamara, Jenn, and I staffed the church's booth at the Pigtown Festival. Our booth had a sign board with pictures from activities at the church, fliers with our weekly schedule, free bracelets for the kids, coloring activities, and an opportunity for people to donate to help with AIDS orphans in Africa. We were able to connect up with several community members and organizations. As a result we're hoping to be able to host the monthly meetings of the Citizens of Pigtown and to have health screening events. We were there from 9:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

That night brought our monthly Solid Rock Cafe. We had some new kids participate in it as well as many of our regulars. Afterward, we cleared everything off the main floor and Robert swept so that it would be ready for Danny to mop in the morning before services begin.

Looking ahead to next week we have our full schedule of activities. In addition, I have a meeting with our Mission Center President on Tuesday. We'll also be making a final decision about and possibly implementing some our ideas for young adult ministry. Next weekend several women will be going to Deer Park in Pennsylvania for a women's retreat.

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

Ciara
Tavon
Theresa
Anne
Eric
Ebony
Donald
Melina

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