Day 5: Mark Tingstad Diaries

 Mark Tingstad

Reporting on Day 5 of Mission Detroit

Today (Wednesday) was by far the most physically demanding day for the kids and adults.  For the morning we broke into two groups – a group of 6 kids with Sarah and Candice went to a home in the neighborhood in much need of some love; the remainder of the kids and adults were tasked with taking down a garage that had been in decay for years (steering clear of stray nails and a madman on a bobcat made the morning exciting).

The afternoon was more of the same with a team of 5-8 kids joining Hope Church’s KSA (their version of VBS) for some roller blading.  The dynamic duo of Ted and Russ were called on yet again to patch a gaping hole in the roof of house that was getting an outdoor makeover by the KCC mission team.

As the groups made their way back to the house where we all congregate, I heard one youth say “God sure does work in mysterious ways!”  There is a lot of truth in this statement.  We came to Detroit not knowing exactly what to expect or what we would be doing.  The kids and adults have been able to see firsthand how God is present and how he is working through the gracious and loving acts of a handful of people to make a difference.  We are not so different from the people of Detroit – we all need Gods love (agape love) and hope to bring that feeling of love and inclusiveness back to Kent when we return.

Our night wrapped up with some worship and the sharing of one of our youth’s faith story.  Finally, the kids assembled to have some fun and play a random game or two.  What rang out was the unforgettable sound of a game that has become of a mission trip favorite – “Big Bootie”.  Sources tell us that the originator and organizer of this game (which is innocent and God friendly) is none other than our own Sarah Butler Wills.  Be sure to thank her when you see her and you can fit right in by yelling out “Big Bootie”.

God surely does work in mysterious ways!

Day 3: Micah Wills's Blog

 Micah Wills

Hello everybody! Wooooooowwieeeee What a week this has been! We've been serving constantly none stop for the past 5 days and it's been great. Sounds weird right? Working outside sounding great? But it is. Loving this community and working for them and been so much fun for all us I believe. We have cleaned an entire church (literally. the floor, windows, pews, walls), painted a ramp, cleaned a big-ole-park, Tore down and recycled a garage, and cleaned and cleared a super duper over grown house/garden. The words the pastor of the church we attended said has stuck with Mark and the rest of our group (Micah, Evan, Daniel). And that was.....that the most important thing we most do is to love each other! ABOVE ALL THINGS WE MUST LOVE. He was a very passionate pastor, we loved him. So that's what I and the rest of us have been trying to do, love all. This community, each other, and when we get back home!

Day1: From a leader, to the parents. Day two Detroit Mission.

Sarah ButlerWills
I know coming on mission trips is about service, and what we can do for the amazing Christians who are here. We want to make the good work that they are already doing here a bit easier, or cleaner;  we are partnering with them in their work. And we are here for that, Hope Community Church in Detroit is A-MA-ZING. But I come mostly to see your (and my) kids in action. Our kids are A-MA-ZING too! They all just drove off in a big yellow school bus with 37 kids from Detroit to go to a park. After our morning clean-up of a huge park by the river (different park than where VBS is going right now) we took the KCC students back to Hope Church and they ate lunch with VBS.. Our kids fit right in. They all starting talking with and laughing with the kids, they were assigned a group and are looking after 3-5 kids. Our kids are really, really good at playing with and talking with kids!
Parents, your kids have not complained once. I am not kidding, I have not heard ONE negative word. (OK, I know it's only day 4 of the trip!) The weather has turned, we no longer have the heat and humidity that we had on Sat. when we arrived or Sun. when we were in Detroit. We got stuck in a HUGE thunder, lightning and hail storm in the city of Detroit during our scavenger hunt. Even the kids afraid of thunder had a great time as we were pummeled outside the Fox Theater and climbing on the Detroit Tiger.
In the airport on the way down here we started a community building strategy of "secret servant". Its like Secret Santa's but better for missions! So each person on the team picked a name, and we are secretly trying to serve that person through acts of kindness, leaving notes, clearing their plates, etc. I bought a whole bunch of candy bars and the kids had to pick one not for themselves, but for their secret buddy; thinking not about what kind of candy they liked, but what kind their buddy might like. Then they hid them through the house, or left them on the person's bed. Its been really fun to see how much service of each other is going on!
They are also being so inclusive with one another on the team. I saw two girls today who were about to sit down and talk and they saw one kid by himself. They went over an sat with him instead, and asked questions like, "so what do you do for fun?" and "how many siblings do you have"? They didn't have to do that, they could have sat and chatted, it was great to see that small unprompted act!
We have four "other leaders" here, two men that Merge have here (based in Chicago) and two (an engaged couple) who work with the ministry of Hope House through Hope Community Church. They are the ones that have planned the time we have here, and are with us this week. The kids have been respectful and so engaged with these guys, its great. They had to come up with more work for us to do this morning, as we completed the whole list of jobs the church had for us to do yesterday (the facilities guy at the church told us it would take us all week to complete!) The kids are working hard, listening well, and loving on the kids of Detroit. Honestly, its a joy to see and I am always amazed that I have so much fun with these students, and my respect for them, and your parenting, increases each day.
T, W, Th. of this week we partner with the church in VBS, and in the late afternoon we work with neighborhood kids at Hope House. On Weds. we lead the organized game at Hope House, and on Friday we are in charge of an "event" at Hope House. Last "event" they had at Hope House 67 kids came from all over this part of Detroit. They are expecting more than that as they know now that the team from Seattle is hosting. We're getting Russ to BBQ, and playing games (capture the flag has been requested), painting nails, dance competition and of course....basketball!

Day 2: Josette Lake (aka "JOJO") Day One of Detroit Mission

July 28
What a day today! We are all well and excited, coming off a great day at the church on Sunday. Today we worked in the church for hours, cleaning. Its an old church, brick outside and wooden pews inside. We scrubbed the pews, floors, stairs, cleaned tall windows and replaced dry wall. I was exhausted. My job was cleaning windows and moping floors. After lunch we scrubbed down the balcony, that took forever. Finally at 4pm some of us went over to Hope House where they have a neighborhood hangout place (its an actual house and the neighborhood kids hangout outside at the basketball hoop and a long stretch of yard). There were kids of all different ages, kids younger than me, some kids the same age, and some really young ones. They played basketball mainly, even though we tried to get them to play soccer, they said no way.
Once I arrived there, there was this little girl names Taylor. She hugged me as soon as I got there. She told me we were going to be bestfriends...turns out she was a handful. She had toy handcuffs and would handcuff you and take you to jail. She led you over to the soccer net and told you to sit down. Then all you had to do was pray to Jesus and you could go free. Great game.
All the boys in Detroit know basketball. The girls do too, but they were mainly just sitting and watching. Me and Brandon introduced ourselves to the kids on the bench. Their clothes looked worn (like they didn't have much). I tried to be nice and talk to them, but first they looked like they couldn't care less of what I had to say. I felt uncomfortable so I returned and played soccer with Brandon. Then after that we jumped rope. It has been years since I jumped in. Daniel, on our team, surprised us all by being really good at jump rope. We got lots of kids involved with jump rope.
After that I see a guy named Chris who is 13 years old. I see him trying to juggle a soccer ball. I told him I would teach him how to juggle if he teaches me how to do the free throws so good. We embraced each others culture through what we knew how to do. I asked Chris a bit later how is the white people in Detroit. He said things pretty good but sometimes they can be racist. I've noticed more of a division between rich and poor more than black and white. From 5:30-7pm is an organized game each day at Hope House. Today it was sports stations, so I partnered with Chris.
The hangout time did not end until 7pm, so we had a late dinner, we are always hungry. Devotionals and then bed.

SummerTime with Jesus @ TOV

Where has all the time gone! We are well into the swing of things here in student ministries. A few weekends back we had a blast with the Middle Schoolers at Moses Lake for H20!! ( Rob and team will be posting some photos/blog entries- so check back in with us to hear more about that!). Several of our kids are headed off to summer camps ( attending and counseling), family vacations, working, and trying to keep busy for the summer. In just 3 weeks we leave for the Detroit Missions Trip!! Rob and I are busily trying to catch up with summer and fall recruiting- but finding it challenging with all the good ministry happening around us!
Summer can be a blessing for many- it's that chance to slow down, relax, catch up on all the things you neglected during the  year but it can also leave us feeling disconnected. With the busyness of going every direction for some and for others the unbearable stillness of homelife and being away from community- we want to encourage you to use this space to draw closer to God and find new ways to grow in faith this summer.
We have begun a new series at TOV- (good, beautiful, exactly the way God intended it) and have decided to study the book of Psalms. There are not enough week to go through every chapter so we want to encourage you- if you are looking for a way to get in the scripture Psalms is a wonderful books to dig into.

This summer we are diving into a Psalms study where we explore God's word...it's a collections of hymns, songs, poems, and prayers to God. It's an opportunity for us as a community to spend the summer recentering  our lives upon God who loves us and wants to draw us back to himself. Hope you can join us!!

 Here are the Psalms we will be covering... this summer if you want to follow along:
Psalm 1
Psalm 119
Psalm 73
Psalm95
Psalm 74
Psalm 84
Psalm 32
Psalm 116

 

If you plan to follow along we would love to hear about your journey through Psalms. We  hope you are having a wonderful summer! Look forward to seeing you at TOV this summer!

 

R&R