8/22/2010

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

It started with pouring rain shortly before Morning Worship on Sunday. This kept many of the people who walk and all of the people who come on electric scooters at home. Fortunately, Bill & Wendy Brian and several young adults from their area were in town. We had guests from other congregations, too, so we still had a good-sized group. We started a preaching series that morning about living in peace.

We had some food left over from last week's distribution so we put it out for people to take home with them from church. In the end it was all gone.

Bill led the lesson at Kids' Church that afternoon. The kids were learning about the book of 1 Chronicles.

That evening was our monthly Celebration Service. Several of the people who went to Spectacular talked about their experiences as a part of the good news time. This included a video that Sarah had put together. Tamara cooked hot dogs on the grill and others brought "picnic potluck" food that we shared together afterward.

On Monday Hannah, Sam, and Tamara continued working on a couple of projects. One was the sorting and organizing of our craft project supplies and the other was the painting of the mural for the Peace Pavilion. I went to the store and picked up a few items for our school supply drive with money that had been given for that purpose.

Fred got a letter in the mail on Monday. In it was his acceptance letter to Graceland University for fall 2011. It also included a $4000 annual scholarship to get things started. With that, we now have two kids on track to attend Graceland next fall.

Fred, Tamara, Hannah, Sam and I piled in the van and hit the road at 6:45 a.m. Tuesday. We headed to Port Huron, Michigan, to pick up the Peacemobile. On our way there we took a side trip to Kirtland, Ohio, to tour the church's historic temple there. We got to Port Huron around 8:00 that evening.

We had some down time during the day on Wednesday so there was time for going to the beach, visiting family, watching the lake freighters, and playing mini-golf with the our host families' kids and their friends. Supper was a cookout at Tim and Becky's house.

That evening was a service at the Wadhams Grove congregation. It featured a history of the Peacemobile, a blessing of the congregation and its efforts, our group sharing about the ministry here, and a blessing of our future efforts with the Peace Pavilion.

Jenn was able to join us that evening as well. She moved from Pigtown to Michigan about a year ago and currently lives about an hour from Port Huron.

Thursday brought the long drive home. Pulling the trailer meant driving slower and more stops for gas. Therefore, it took us about the same amount of time to go straight home from Michigan as it did for us to get to Michigan via Kirtland.

While we were away, Gloria was able to visit Charles. She had just recently found him after we had lost track of him in the hospital systems. He's now living in a place where he'll get the assistance he needs.

On Friday I was able to visit with the principals at the two elementary schools closest to the church. Both schools were excited about the Pigtown Peace Pavilion and are looking forward to bringing their kids to participate in it this year.

Friday night brought Pizza Church. Hannah and Sam shared about the UK and about World Service Corps during all three sessions. One kid who we hadn't seen in quite a long time surprised us when he returned in a wheelchair. He had been in a car wreck and had lost the use of his legs and had limited mobility in his arms.

Gillilans took Hannah, Sam, and me out for lunch on Saturday. We had a good visit and afterward the Gillilans stopped by the church to see the progress on the mural and the materials that will become the Peace Pavilion. Later that afternoon, Tamara, Hannah, and Sam made a lot of progress toward completing the mural. You can see an "in-progress" picture of the mural at http://pigtownpeacepavilion.blogspot.com/.

Looking ahead to next week we have our full schedule of activities. In addition, those from around the area who went to Spectacular will have a reunion on Sunday evening in Pennsylvania. On Monday we're going to Hershey Park with kids who earned a trip there through their participation in church last year. On Wednesday we'll be assembling teacher care packages for the local schools. Throughout the week we'll be finishing up summer projects like the mural and the collection of school supplies for distribution August 29. Next Saturday evening is our monthly Sundae Church.

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

The Pestridge Family
The Moore Family
The Quick Family
The St. Thomas Family
The Kruft Family
The Latham Family
The Jamison Family
The Collier 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/