4/17/2011

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

It started out Sunday with Morning Worship. Since Onalee was sick and Vonceil was at home with her, Bryce tried his hand at running the AV equipment. We continued our series on Power.

During Kids' Church we learned the story of Lazarus being raised from the dead. 19 kids came, several of whom were new to the church.

With the new kids we crossed another attendance milestone for the year. We've now crossed over 800 kids that have participated in activities at the church since July.

Shortly after the kids left we had our monthly Priesthood Meeting. We usually have it in the evening but moved it forward so people would have time to get home to watch the simulcast from church headquarters that night. The item that took the most time out of the agenda was focused on the calendar for summer.

We spent some time on Monday adjusting our plans for "Peace for Everyone" at the Peace Pavilion. We had realized at the end of last week that we would not be able to use a couple of centers that we had planned to use. We put together some new ones on Monday but discovered what we had made was too big to get laminated at Staples.

So, Tuesday we worked on reworking what we had already reworked on Monday. Fortunately we were able to reach into the box of things that Staples had donated to us last year and find a whole stack of supplies that were exactly what we needed.

118 kids participated in Wednesday's SonRisers activities. Afterward we put the final touches on the Peace Pavilion and took pictures of it to post on the blog. You can see them here.

The 5th grade class from School 34 arrived at the Peace Pavilion that afternoon. Tamara, Gloria, and I were joined by about 8 nursing students to provide the staffing for their visit.

That evening after the NA Meeting and the Mid-Week Service we started reworking our mailing list. Our old one was beyond repair so we decided to just start from scratch. Our goal was to have it ready to assemble over the weekend and get the Easter postcards in Monday's mail.

We learned on Wednesday that Robert got a job. He'll be working in the jail downtown. We'll know more information about what exactly he'll be doing once he reports in a couple of weeks.

Two classes of 3rd graders came through the Peace Pavilion on Thursday afternoon. Staffing included the 8 nursing students who helped with "Peace for Us" a few months ago.

Later that afternoon I met with Bill. We had been given new tax forms this year and they were extremely confusing. We sorted through them and he was going to take them by his accountant to have them checked. He also updated me on the meetings he was at at church headquarters last week.

Beautiful weather on Thursday brought people out on the streets that evening. In walking around and visiting, I was greeted with, "Hey your that guy from the Power House" comments from many third graders who were out and who I had seen earlier in the day at the Peace Pavilion. Some of them introduced me to their parents (many of whom I already knew) and we talk about what they had learned.

Later that night we finished up the Easter mailing list and got the labels printed.

Friday brought 1st grade classes to the Peace Pavilion. Those who staffed that event were there for the first time that week.

That afternoon I stopped by the post office to pick up the postcard stamps for the Easter mailing. They didn't have enough but would have more on Monday. As I paid for what they did have in stock, the attendant said, "Of course, you know they will cost more next week because the rate goes up on Monday." It was then that I learned that the stamps in my hands had to be on the postcards and in the mail on Saturday or they would not be sufficient. We had to rearrange plans in order to get the labels and stamps on the postcards that night in order to make it into the postbox on time.

At Pizza Church that night we focused on the Palm Sunday scriptures. Between session Tamara worked with some of the kids to make the T-shirts they had earned.

Earl and I joined folks from around the mission center for meetings on Saturday in Virginia. Though normally a slow drive due to traffic congestion, this weekend was especially bad, taking over 2.5 hours to go about 75 miles.

Looking ahead to next week we have our full schedule of activities. In addition, we have our monthly Celebration Service on Sunday evening followed by a sandwich supper. We'll be getting the last of the postcards in Monday's mail. With school closed for spring break we won't have SonRisers on Wednesday. Wednesday is also the last session for the nursing students for the semester. Thursday evening is our annual Last Supper Service and the church will be open on Good Friday from noon - 3:00 for personal prayer and reflection. Throughout the week we'll be walking the neighborhood distributing invitations for next Sunday's Easter services. Saturday is our monthly Sundae Church.

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

The Meile Family
The Latham Family
The King Family
The Iman Family
The Whitfield Family
The Wharton Family
The Boycheck Family
The Mueller 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/