Photo of the Week- "Goodbye Rhonda"

As many of you may have heard, I am very sorry to say Rhonda (my car for the past few years) has been totaled. 

On the morning of Sunday, March 24th Rhonda was hit by a drunk driver going nearly 70 mph in a 35 mph zone. She got hit in the face hard enough to roll to the other side of the street and leave plenty of debris. However, luckily she was just parked outside of a friend's house and it was very early in the morning so no one was around, the driver of the other vehicle did actually walk away from the wreck, but was arrested with a DUI. A sad day for sure, but at least no one was injured.

Time to bike?

 

Photo of the Week- Stations of the Cross- In Clark Park

Well I do regret to say that it has been quite sometime since I last updated, so I am very sorry for that! Believe me it has not been that nothing is happening, but quite the opposite...everything is happening! But don't you worry I am going to do my very best to catch you up slowly on everything from Lent, to Rhonda (my car) leaving! So be expecting a few extra posts this week as I have a lot to share and a lot to update you on!

This Photo of the week bit is from a Stations of the Cross service I attended and helped with in a local park. It was a pretty great service because it was so very different than other services. For one it was in the middle of the park which invited so many more people to join! However, one of the coolest points was that it was not put on just by one agency, instead it was a group effort between 8 different agencies in Southwest Detroit that are working to better Southwest in different ways. Some of the agencies ranged from ones seeking immigration justice and reform, a church plant, a gun violence advocacy group, "street art" organization and several other agencies working hard for SW Detroit. Each agency took a station or two and presented what they were doing, connected to the station itself! It was a beautiful time to see so many people passionate, working and loving the neighborhood I am living in! 

I was even invited to do a station myself as a part of Grace in Action and did the reading of the second station, when Jesus was arrested.

This cross was carried around to each station as the group walked through and each station hung a cross on the large wooden cross. 

Here is just one of the stations speaking mostly towards the need to incorporate what our ancestors learned and the importance of intergenerational dialoge.

Another station, this one by Southwest Pride, advocating for an end to gun violence, there were certainly some very sobering statistics.

There was a pretty great turn out of about 50 or so and already talks for next year! (If I help next year I will have to step up my presentation, there were some really powerful ones!)

Photo of the Week- Bowls of Hope!

This week's photos of the week are of our Bowls of Hope event at Central UMC! This past Sunday Amy (my supervisor) and I had an awesome opportunity to give the sermon at Central! We spoke from the lectionary and talked on 2 Corinthians 5 and the story of the Prodigal Son. Our main topic was Radical Hospitality and how the NOAH project has depicted this and challenged both of us to be better. I was an awesome chance to dive deep into scripture, share what NOAH is doing and get a little more experience speaking in front of a congregation. After the service we move upstairs where the whole NOAH staff had been working tirelessly to turn the dining hall into a space for the Bowls of Hope Event! There was music, 6 delicious soups, donated Avalon Bakery bread and good conversation all over the place, all to help raise money for the NOAH Project. I had a great time working, eating and chatting this Sunday and I am very thankful for all that helped and supported us on Sunday!

So first people would walk through and find 3 tables with handmade bowls on one, hand painted bowls on another and reclaimed bowls from Salvation Army on the third. There was a suggested donation that people paid, filled up there bowl a few times and then were able to take the bowl home.

As you can see there was plenty of soup and bread to go around (in fact it is Tuesday and for lunch again today I think we'll be finishing off the Minestrone!)

A packed fellowship hall which is always a good thing to see!

Making it.

Sitting here enjoying a little time of reflection and I am reminded of a story from about 4 years ago when I was working with the Matthews United Methodist Church youth group:

So I had been working for about a month and I was working very hard to get to know the youth and find that common ground. I was slowly learning more and more names and different hobbies that the youth had. One common hobby we had was certainly Ultimate Frisbee. I never was very good, but I loved playing.

Well one day one of the youth invited me to play with a group, of course I took the opportunity to hang out and enjoy a competitive game (AKA: the chance to run around and act like I know what I am doing, but really don't). I showed up at the field at 7 sharp and loe and behold, I did not know one kid out there except the couple that had invited me to play. Intimidating at first, but man then I thought about it later that night and I realized this was a game that was just with their friends and I was invited into that circle!

In my head, I had made it! I had made it past this awkward barrier of that goofy guy that puts underwear outside of his pants (dressed up as quail man) and has too much energy. I was a friend.


So the reason this story is so wonderfully relevant is what happened last night at the shelter I help serve a meal at on Thursday nights called My Brothers Keeper.

At this shelter I get to see a lot of the same guys and I am pretty sure most guys dont know my name, but they recognize me or know that I work at NOAH so they call me "Noah" (or one guy called me "White Lightening" for a while because of my bike, but that is a whole different story). Anyway, I walked in on Thursday saying the usual hellos to the guys that I knew and when I shook mans hand he just looks at me with a genuine look of compassion and says, "Was wondering where you were last week, were you sick? Are you alright?"

While I recognize that this man may not even know my name, he noticed I wasn't there last week! And on top of that there seemed to be a legitimate question as to how I was. We talked for a few more moments and sat together at worship, but man the only thing going through my head was "You've made it Brandon!" Little pleasures in life, and man this is one of them, may we continue to reach out and care about those around us!

Photos of the Week! -VEV

So this week's photo of the week is a little bit later in the week because I wanted the opportunity to post pictures from the Volunteers Exploring Vocation (VEV) put on by the Fund for Theological Education event I attended this Saturday through Tuesday in Decatur outside of Atlanta, Georgia! At this conference I met up with 53 other service volunteers from 18 different organizations and we discussed future vocations within our respective churches, denominations, or a ministry related position possibly and where people feel called. This was a weekend of exploring, discerning and  challenge! We were able to hear from several different seminary professors from Candler and Columbia and other leaders within the social service world, from a the executive director with the L'Arche community to one working with Mission Year, we were really poured into by many different people.

I must admit for me personally it was a fantastic time to step away from my placement site with NOAH and look briefly into how the stories I am hearing and work I am doing will continue to shape my life. NOAH will certainly have a lasting impact on me and I feel it is great to be able to sit back and soak up all that I am learning just for a few moments. It was interesting that as a US-2 myself and two other US-2s were the only volunteers in attendance working for greater than 1 year. Conversation after conversation made me more thankful that I do have this extra year as I am able to stay steeped in Detroit and continue to build community and learn about the people rather than decide what I am doing in 4 months! In addition to being poured into I feel it was a great connecting point to dive deep into the minds and hearts of those working extensively in other denominations and religions. I am so thankful for the experience, the time to make new friends and  take time to catch up with old ones, now back to Detroit with our Bowls of Hope event this Saturday it promises to be a busy week, it is good to be back in Detroit and back with my family here!

Fellow US-2s Sarah McKay (placed in Miami, FL) and Jerrica Becker (placed in Cedartown, GA) were also invited to attend and we were able to catch up, vent and just enjoy sharing experiences!

I suppose this picture doesn't have all that much to do with Atlanta seeing as it is Lake Erie, but I thought it was just a beautiful picture on the way in!

For those old Matthews United Methodist Youth reading, this space may look familiar??

In 11th grade the youth group took a mission trip to Atlanta and we visited this homeless shelter. Welp 6 years later it still doing great an actually expanded to having a worship service, an art studio and a friend of mine is working there now!

Boarding to VEV!!

Hey hey so I thought I would update some of y'all about an awesome opportunity I have this weekend! From Saturday till Tuesday I have been invited to be a part of a conference called Volunteers Exploring Vocation (VEV) put on by the fund for theological education! I don't know entirely what to expect but it promises to be a pretty awesome 4 day trip!

Here is a little schpeel (not so sure how to spell that word but I want to use it!) that was given from their website:

"Our Volunteers Exploring Vocation (VEV) program helps young adults explore the relationship between faith and work during their year of service in more than a dozen faith-based service programs. VEV participants serve in the places where they are called to embody love of God and neighbor, and connect with peers and mentors while considering the call of God upon their lives."

The conference has 50+ volunteers meeting for small groups, discussions, speakers and some awesome fellowship all with volunteers from several different agencies working all around the US. Not to mention I will have an awesome chance to see fellow US-2s Sarah McKay out of Miami and Jerrice Becker out of Cedartown, GA! More to come for sure about the happening and conversations, but just wanted to give an update!

So here we go! The plane is boarding from Detroit and it promises to be an adventure!