5/30/2010

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

It started out Sunday with one of our kid's parents coming by before the service. I had been trying to track her down for several weeks hoping to get the boy's camp forms signed. We were finally able to get that taken care of.

We had a small group for Morning Worship. During the service we celebrated Pentecost. Our theme was "God is Better than You Think."

We continued the Pentecost celebration that afternoon at Kids' Church. To help us remember the Spirit coming as wind and fire as described in Acts 2, we made flame decorations on kites. Afterward, several of the kids went to the park to try to fly them.

That evening we took the covers off of all the sofa and chair cushions in the front room. Already dirty before last month's 15th anniversary celebration, they were now stained from popsicles as well. We took them home and ran them through the washer.

On Tuesday we met up with a neighbor who is a contractor. Our downspouts had been damaged and he and his crew were able to repair them quickly and for a nominal charge.

89 kids participated in Wednesday's SonRisers activities. Later that day I received an invitation from Diggs-Johnson Middle School to represent the church at a dinner honoring organizations who had supported the school this year.

Our community service volunteer finished up her required hours on Wednesday. Job number one this week was getting the covers back on the cushions. She was able to get a lot of things done for us around the church as well as stimulate the rest of us to take care of some things, too.

We had good news and bad news about camp on Wednesday. The bad news was that one of our girls ended up with a conflicting activity and now will not be able to go. The good news was that the Hampton, Virginia, congregation sent funds to help send a couple more kids to camp. We still have a shortage in camp funding but this helped reduce it.

Just before the NA meeting that afternoon I was able to meet up with two more parents that I'd been trying to track down in recent weeks. I was able to get the camp forms signed for both kids.

After the Mid-Week service I was out walking around the neighborhood. In visiting with folks, I learned that Jean, whose leg had been amputated nearly a year ago, was now qualified to get an artificial leg. She and her family are very excited about her potential return to mobility.

On the TV news that night we learned of a scandal at one of the elementary schools in our neighborhood. A few years ago the school had achieved "Blue Ribbon" status and even had a visit from then First Lady Laura Bush because of their achievement as measured by standardized test scores. It was revealed that the kids' answer sheets had been altered and that the scores were now invalid.

We spent some time this week on the Kids' Church newsletter. We've gotten surprising amounts of positive feedback about this newsletter since we started it last fall. We're considering doing one for the parents of Pizza Church participants as well.

Friday night brought Pizza Church. My dad was in town for Bryce's 8th grade graduation so he came and helped with the groups. The first two sessions focused on Acts 2 communities. The third group continued with their video based curriculum. Damon, who had graduated from high school earlier that day, brought his diploma and notebook for all to see.

Toward the end of Pizza Church, Terry's mom stopped by. He had been invited to go with the group to Spectacular this summer at Graceland University in Lamoni, Iowa. She was thrilled with this opportunity for him and was excited to meet Tamara and Sarah, both of whom are chaperones, and learn more about what Terry would be experiencing there.

We now have 5 kids registered to go to Spectacular. It's the largest group of kids we've taken. We received some pledges this week from people who are going to help with their transportation expenses. We still have a ways to go but are moving the right direction.

Saturday evening we dropped by Sam's Club to pick up a cake for Sunday morning. We're celebrating high school and college graduations during Morning Worship. This naturally requires cake.

Looking ahead to next week we have our full schedule of activities. In addition we'll have our graduation celebration during Morning Worship on Sunday. We have one remaining camp form to track down before the June 1 deadline. On Wednesday I'll be attending the community partners dinner at Diggs-Johnson Middle School. Wednesday night is our final Mid-Week Service for the summer. I have a meeting with our Mission Center President on Thursday.

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

The Yount Family
The Carnes Family
The Robinson Family
The Moore Family
The Jeffers Family
The King Family
The Bryant Family
The Johnson 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
http://thisweekatthepowerhouse.blogspot.com/