Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Photo(s) of the Week!

So sorry for those that have checked for the picture of the week on Sunday, but I must admit this has been a very busy week! My mom, dad and sister were able to come up from Charlotte for the holiday and the weekend! Here are just a few pictures from their visit! More to come about Thanksgiving!


Out for my Dad's birthday!


Yeah we're just goofs


Sunday, November 18, 2012

Photo of the Week- Walk A Mile In My Shoes

So this weekend we had 2 awesome events with NOAH! It was a pretty awesome weekend! So these are some pictures of the event called "Walk a Mile in My Shoes" put on by the H.A.N.D. Network.  This was an event where hundreds of people came to do a walk for awareness of homelessness on a 6 mile round trip walk down the sidewalks of one of the busiest streets in Detroit. The NOAH Project was in attendance as the turn around point and rest stop serving hot chocolate, apples and water on the beautiful Saturday morning!


Some of the NOAH Crew!


Here is our booth, pretty packed!


Here you can see the masses about to cross the street to come to our booth!

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

"Justice"

I have found "justice" to sometimes be a buzz word in many circles. I feel the word “justice” is sometimes thrown around as a tool to evoke emotion (similar to the word “love”). I think there are times in my stint here where I have been shown the simplicity of justice. Justice does not have to be this big grand, over arching idea of fighting on the front lines against a huge oppressor, but justice can be enacted through building a relationship, or simply helping in a compassionate way. Of course I do feel justice may still look like a grand fight against tyranny in some situations, but in my work at NOAH I have seen justice on a smaller, just as meaningful, scope. I hope to live out justice with compassion and an open ear to listen, and an openness to help in what ways I can. All the while fight against the predisposition to pity a person because to pity a person can be a injustice in itself. These are just a few thoughts on justice that have come up in recent conversations, what do you think? Disagree?

Happy Wednesday Yall!

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Photos of the Week- Imagine What's Next!

This weekend I had the awesome opportunity to go to the Imagine What's Next Conference through the United Methodist Church in St. Louis, MO! This was an awesome time where 550 young adults gathered to discuss and "imagine" what possibilities there are for the church in a social justice minded environment! There is certainly more to come about this conference, but here are just a few of the photos from the awesome weekend!

 Brad and Gretchen, I'm not really sure why we are using that pole as a prop but whatever!

 GBGM Reunion! There were 6 current US-2's in attendance and a few people from the GBGM staff, here we have Elisabeth (US-2 in Texas) and Brinna (US-2 in Montana), and Dan (on staff at GBGM).

 The view from the top of the arch

Nice sunrise behind the arch right!

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Why did I drink that coffee? What if I have to pee??


Here is a random and crazy story, happened yesterday:

Scene: Central UMC was a polling location yesterday and amongst the chaos of having two voting districts in the building, being drafted as a poll worker (that sounds weird) and still keeping social services open with NOAH.

Story: So I was in need of some cleaning supplies, so the maintenance worker, we will call him Jim and I took the elevator to the 5th floor to get to the supply closet. However, as we were going up there was a sudden jolt and the sound of a spring breaking...yes it happened...the elevator broke while I was on it! In case I have not shared it with you one of my many oddities, this is one of my weird thoughts, I have a fun game in my head in which whenever I get onto an elevator I automatically think "what if I get stuck on this elevator, with these people?" Well it finally happened to me...we were stuck. I asked, "has this ever happened before?" To that Jim answers, not since I've been here." (Jim has been working with the church for over 20 years). Immediately, I am thinking of the stories and movies I have seen where people are stuck on an elevator for days, so I am mapping out how to bust through the ceiling, and taking an inventory of the granola bar in my pocket and regretting the coffee I drank an hour prior. However, we opened the doors (slightly anti-climatic I know) and I jumped off as fast as I could (because I have seen the movies where just as the character gets off the elevator, it releases into a free fall to crash at the bottom of the shaft). Looking at it now, it is a pretty humorous story I must admit, but the elevator breakdown could not have happened on a worse day as we had people in scooters and wheel chairs on the second floor voting, and 4th floor eating after voting. So we spent a great deal of the next few hours carrying people down the stairs, scooters and all. What an adventure!! 

Anyway, it was a wild day, but to be honest I love days that are busy and slightly chaotic (every so often). It was really cool to see people from all over the church and community come out and work tirelessly to help people to vote in any way possible. Also, this has certainly taught me for the future, be nice to the people working/volunteering at the polls, maybe they just carried someone down the stairs because the elevator broke down? Never know!

Have a great Wednesday!

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Photo(s) of the Week- HALLOWEEN!

So this week's Photos of the Week totally deal with Halloween! On Saturday night a lot of the local service volunteers got to sport our costumes and hang out. Then on Wednesday we had trick-or-treaters come by! It was so great to see people weathering the rain and cold to have a little community fun! My personal favorite was we had someone dressed as UAW Union Rep come by! Talk about creative hahaha 

Anyway on a serious note there had been reports of three rapes occurring in the area, but I must admit it felt great to see parents not let that stop their children trick-or-treat as about every group had a parent walking along (or driving along) with them. And a great deal of the area churches had groups of people driving around just to add to the security.



This is Luigi, Sherlock Holmes and Mario (AKA: me (duh), Joey and Joni)


THE awesome pumpkin named: Pumpkinula! (I am biased this is the one I carved)

And the other jack-o-lantern! As you can see we were handing out candy too! These two pumpkins are actually making delicious pies and soups now too!

Saturday, November 3, 2012

Do You Have Money For The Boots?

This weekend I was at the United Methodist Men's Meeting for the Detroit Conference. It was a great meeting in Utica, especially the week after going to the United Methodist Women's Meeting in Saginaw last weekend to represent as a US-2. I woud like to just share a story that the speaker, Pastor Dave Gerber shared with the men.

Pastor Gerber:
Pastor Gerber was working with a church in Nevada and a man sleeping on the street came up to him, knowing that Gerber worked with the church, and explained that he needed a pair of boots for a job that he had just received. Gerber was more than willing to lobby the pastor to see if the church would buy the boots for the man. However, the pastor said no, they did not have the money. Gerber explained how very mad he was with the situation, that a congregation of nearly 450 was unable to come up with the money to purchase a pair of boots.
     Fuming from the encounter Gerber went for a drive. Gerber describes the frustration with a church that was unwilling to help a man in need, church that is so stuck-up and so self-centered. It was around this time at the climax of anger that Gerber feels he heard from God. The voice is asking, "do you have money for the boots?" In that moment Gerber mut answer, "yes." 
     
There was a little more to the story, of how Gerber bought the boots and actually formed a caring relationship with the man and the two have become good friends. But the point that Gerber was attempting to make was that he expected the church to act, he expected the church to give the money. However, he completely overlooked the fact that he was a part of the church. He was frustrated with the church's inaction, but didn't recognize his own apathy! WE are the church, let us not blame the church for our own complacency. "So be a person that cares for people" -Pastor Gerber

Hope you are having a great Saturday!