Detroit Day 3

There are no accurate words to describe how God moved today. He was present in every circumstance and clear in his purposes. I could feel his love in everything I attempted and his voice was as loud as I've ever heard it. Being in the presence of the Almighty Father and feeling his loving arms around me was beyond anything I can describe. If you've never been in the presence of The Lord you should ask him to reveal himself to you and I promise it will be like nothing you've ever imagined. Just try it.

The day began like any other, breakfast and fellowship (with tired people.) Right after breakfast we were taken to the Woodbridge Community Center (where the WOW Jam will be done and the new church will be planted). 

Our job for the morning was to pack 800 bags of groceries that will be given out the day of the event. We worked assembly like style (true Motor City fashion!) and listened to Israel Houghton and danced the morning away, well, not everyone was dancing while working but let's face it, I don't usually do things the 'normal' way. A few ladies began dancing and bagging with me and it made for a really fun morning. Each time we would bag 100 bags of groceries we would stop and sing a worship song and pray over those groceries. I LOVE this kind of work and I felt right at home as we were working. On Saturday we will be getting produce to give away too, but we just prepared the dry/canned goods today.

My dance partner Valarie (love this girl!)

My other dance partner Cindy (love her too!--She is also my late night UNO partner)

While we were bagging groceries, RJ, one of the leaders came up to Valarie and myself and told us she needed to meet with us after we were done. (My stomach dropped and she quickly said...your not in trouble...whew. Lol) 

We finished up the groceries and RJ met with us girls. She said that she saw us dancing and saw that we had rhythm and needed us for a skit that will be performed the day of the WOW Jam on the stage right before the alter call. She looked at me and said that she saw me as the main role. That I would fit the role perfectly. I immediately got really nervous, but also excited. We watched the video of the skit and it is powerful! It is sort of a dance/skit that is performed to music. Instead of going out canvassing we decided it would be best to stay back and begin practicing. I won't do the skit justice so http://youtu.be/2xsH_ceAy00 click on this and watch it for yourself. Go on, watch it. If you had emotions watching the video imagine what I was going through trying to do it over and over. At first it was hard and I felt awkward, but I began praying and asking God to give me the right emotions and movements to portray. I began feeling the pain of the girl and the pain of the reality that many of the women who will be watching this on Saturday will have dealt with these issues I'm acting out. I asked God to help me put myself aside and live out what he wants. I got out of myself and played the part. I am SO nervous to do this in front of 7,000+ people on Saturday. Pray for my nerves! Pray that I would give out everything I am to minister to the people that will see it. That they won't see me, but themselves, that they too can have the freedom at the end that comes with asking Jesus to be their everything. Pray that I'd put aside myself and let the Holy Spirit be my guide.

Truth be told, I am someone who has always wanted to perform on stage, but my sister always played that role. God has given me this opportunity and I plan on giving him the glory. I still can't believe I am going to be used in this way. I can't believe it. The insecure person inside of me wants to say that someone else will do a better job, but the Kingdom of God inside of me says that I can do this and I will be victorious. I think this experience is going to be a growing experience for me and I am ready!  I always want to be obedient to whatever God asks of me. I WILL be faithful in the little things(although this doesn't feel very small), because I want God to continue to grow me. Increase me, bring more people to Him because of my obedience.

After that amazing morning, we headed back to the hotel for lunch, naps, dinner. (Lunch was at 2...dinner was at 5) Then we went to the Detroit World Outreach Church to have a WOW Jam kick off rally and to meet the other churchs in Detroit that will work with us on Saturday. DWO is a wonderful church that was very welcoming to us. It was a powerful evening of worship. I don't want to sound racist at all when I say this, but black people can get DOWN when praising God. It was such a moving evening. 

The evening was topped off with a trip to Wendy's and bed!

Good night everyone. Please continue to pray!

25 Facts about Detroit

1) At this point, the city of Detroit owes money to more than 100,000 creditors.

2) Detroit is facing $20 billion in debt and unfunded liabilities.  That breaks down to more than $25,000 per resident.

3) Back in 1960, the city of Detroit actually had the highest per-capita income in the entire nation.

4) In 1950, there were about 296,000 manufacturing jobs in Detroit.  Today, there are less than 27,000.

5) Between December 2000 and December 2010, 48 percent of the manufacturing jobs in the state of Michigan were lost.

6) There are lots of houses available for sale in Detroit right now for $500 or less.

7) At this point, there are approximately 78,000 abandoned homes in the city.

8) About one-third of Detroit's 140 square miles is either vacant or derelict.

9) An astounding 47 percent of the residents of the city of Detroit are functionally illiterate.

10) Less than half of the residents of Detroit over the age of 16 are working at this point.

11) If you can believe it, 60 percentof all children in the city of Detroit are living in poverty.

12) Detroit was once the fourth-largest city in the United States, but over the past 60 years the population of Detroit has fallen by 63 percent.

13) The city of Detroit is now very heavily dependent on the tax revenue it pulls in from the casinos in the city.  Right now, Detroit is bringing in about 11 million dollars a month in tax revenue from the casinos.

14) There are 70 "Superfund" hazardous waste sites in Detroit.

15) 40 percent of the street lights do not work.

16) Only about a third of the ambulances are running.

17) Some ambulances in the city of Detroit have been used for so long that they have more than 250,000 miles on them.

18) Two-thirds of the parks in the city of Detroit have been permanently closed down since 2008.

19) The size of the police force in Detroit has been cut by about 40 percent over the past decade.

20) When you call the police in Detroit, it takes them an average of58 minutes to respond.

21) Due to budget cutbacks, most police stations in Detroit are now closed to the public for 16 hours a day.

22) The violent crime rate in Detroit is five times higher than the national average.

23) The murder rate in Detroit is 11 times higher than it is in New York City.

24) Today, police solve less than 10 percent of the crimes that are committed in Detroit.

25) Crime has gotten so bad in Detroit that even the police are telling people to "enter Detroit at your own risk".

It is easy to point fingers and mock Detroit, but the truth is that the rest of America is going down the exact same path that Detroit has gone down.

Detroit just got there first.

Source- CNN

Detroit Day 2 (and end of day 1)

Live your life like someone else's life depends on it, because it does.

(End of day 1)--last night ended with a time of worship, orientation and a run. I was SO hungry that the meatloaf that was served for dinner tasted like steak! We didn't have any time to get any food in the airport and by the time we ended up getting to the hotel I just decided to wait for dinner to eat(I was so thankful that I had packed a bean burrito in my backpack the night before or else I wouldn't have eaten all day!). After dinner we sung praises to God, was told about what to expect and Pastor Willie gave a short sermon. The atmosphere of people is amazing. Everyone is here to serve and it is great to be in the company of so many servants. No one has an agenda, except what God wants! After worship time we had free time until bed and I decided to get a run in. Four miles later I was beyond exhausted! Sleep didn't come easily Tuesday night! Pray I can sleep tonight! Lol

This morning we woke up, had a delicious breakfast (I've eaten more carbs in the past two days than I've had in months!) After breakfast we had morning session. It was an amazing time of worship and prayer. Pastor Willie and Steve blessed us with their words. This is when the opening statement was written, "Live your life like someone else's life depends on it, because it does." To think that if I don't follow my destiny someone else might not receive the gift of salvation in Christ is serious. He said a Christian is someone who goes to heaven when he/she dies, a disciple is someone who goes to heaven and brings people with them. I want to be a disciple! Steven also compared this trip to a football game. We are preparing all week for the WOW Jam on Saturday, just like a football player will prepare all week for their one game) We must prepare and prepare right to reach as many people as possible. We broke out in prayer many times as we prepare our hearts for what God is going to do. We are becoming equipped and how amazing it is! I cannot accurately describe how amazing God has been today and how present he is in every circumstance. 

Praying over Pastor Willie after he finished his message.

After the morning session we had a short 20 minute break before lunch. We were all excited to learn the Wiener Mobile was in the parking lot! 

 We had a delicious sandwich lunch and afterward headed out to get into the neighborhoods in Detroit to pass out fliers and invite people to the outreach. We broke up into teams, rode on the bus into Detroit, received fliers and went door-to-door and talked to people. (Below is my team holding the fliers and what we did is called canvassing)

The people we came in contact with were so receptive to what we were doing and we even got to pray with a lady. The joy we had as we walked those dirty, abandoned streets was unparalleled. I had such joy walking, talking, and showing love. I am tired this evening, but I feel so full. The streets and neighborhoods are crazy, you'll walk around and see a nice looking street and half of the streets on the block are in utter disrepair. You can buy a house out here (in certain areas) for less than a car. As people are leaving a abandoning the city, we are rushing in. God wants to reclaim this place for him!

Above is an example, these were all taken on the same street!

Please continue to pray for us as we are going to enter the city again tomorrow. We will be canvassing again and packing groceries. 

Again, today isn't over, but we have about 30 minutes before dinner and I needed to get some of the day down in here!

Detroit Day 1

Provision. We needed it, God delivered. 

Waking up at 3:15am was easy this morning, easy because I was SO excited about coming. Easy because being in the will of the Almighty Lord is all I ever want for my life. Easy because serving people is what desire to do. Now, getting up was easy for me, but when you add 70 other people into the equation of getting up early...you don't always have the desired result of leaving on time to rely on. We ended up leaving the church slightly later than anticipated. About 15 of us(me included) were on a 7:05 flight and the rest of the group were on a later 9:50 flight. We arrived at the airport at 6:05. If you have ever been to LAX at 6am...you know what I am talking about when I say it was insane!!!! Our group leader tried to ask about moving up to the front of the like and was told....sorry ma'am, you just missed your flight. So we stopped. We prayed and we believed that if we didn't make this flight it was for a reason. God always has his plans and they are always perfect, God is always on time. At that moment a nice Delta worker came up (coincidence that we had just placed our trust in God and we were relying on him-I think not), our group leader talked to her (by this time it was about 6:30, all hope seemingly lost) and she RAN to the counter and got all our boarding passes(no one checked bags). Off we went....some how we made it through security and on the other side the TSA lady said we had one minute to make it to our gate. I was all jumpy and nervous and full of adrenaline! Luggage in tow we booked it, I saw some of our group members who I could never imagine running take off with speed only given by The Lord himself. Whew, we made it. Provision. 

I still can't believe we made that flight. We ran up Home Alone style and made it! God is in the business of miracles and I witnessed a modern day miracle this morning!

The flight was un-eventful and we arrived into Detroit to rain. It was like The Lord was welcoming us with his water(washed by the water!). So far the weather is slightly muggy but bearable and while I am tired, I feel blessed and vibrant. After we landed I learned that my Dad had us on his heart and made my mom stay up and pray over us. God had us covered in prayer, the devil wanted us to miss that flight, but Gods plans always prevail over the enemy! (Thank you Pops for your prayers!)

I've been praying for a very long time for God to bless me with some single friends who relate to me and are near my age and He has been showing me people all day who are SO kind and similar to me. It is crazy, we haven't really done any serving, yet, but as a group we serve, thank and love on everyone we come in contact with. 

While waiting on my keys to my room I met a middle aged man who has lived in Detroit his entire life and he told me all his personal growing up history. It was awesome to hear his story of growing up here and I listen to the decline from someone who went through it. I told him my purpose and that I was praying for his city. He was taken back. 

God is here. I see Him everywhere. 

The day isn't over. We are settling in and getting ready for dinner. Today was reserved for travel and the second flight hasn't arrived yet. I am SO hungry!! 

If you pray, please pray that God would open my spiritual eyes to see every divine appointment in my path. Pray that I would have courage to do anything God tells me to do. Pray for breakthrough for the city of Detroit and for all the hearts that Jesus wants to change. Pray for our leaders. Also, pray that I'd step out of my comfort zone and make friends with people, that I'd love on them the way Jesus loves me! (Also, I met a fellow history buff and she is a senior in HS, oh little mind...prepare to be molded this week!!!!)

Know that I am praying for you as well. 

I might update after dinner, but I figured I'd take the free time I have a get something down on paper. Not sure how much time I will have the rest of the day.

Praise The Lord all you nations.

With faith like a mustard seed we can move mountains. I am going to see some mountain moving this week! I believe, Lord help me in my unbelief!

Below are some pictures of the trip and me with my cup of coffee (that I finally got after landing...no time before we took off!!)

Detroit Day -1

Tomorrow I will wake up at 3:30 in the morning and begin my 2,000 mile journey to the city of Detroit. Tomorrow; I can not believe that the day has already come. In January when I was praying about which mission trip I was going to go on, this day seemed SO far away and yet, here it is. Tomorrow. So many emotions are running through me, I am excited, nervous, determined, and full of love. I am ready, and am able, and I believe that God has equipped me to do his work. Don't get me wrong, I am NOT worthy, but I am thankful that Jesus filled in the gap for me. He filled in the gap for my sins so that I can be worthy to fill in the gap for other people and the day has come, tomorrow. 

Did you know that the first building ever built in Detroit was a church building? It was built in 1705 and still stands, it burnt down twice, but was rebuilt twice (St Anne's-see picture below). The early years in Detroit all point to the christianity and revival for Christ. Not a surprise that God blessed the city. Detroit was once a bustling metropolis with over 1.8 million people living in the city alone. It was the capital of the automotive industry and unemployment was practically nonexistent. In the 1950's it was the nations 4th largest city with one of the countries highest per capita earning. Beginning in the 1960's automotive companies began taking business elsewhere(including out of the country) and the decline began. Since the 1960's steady decline hurt the economy of Detroit and as the business moved so did the people.

Fast forward to today and Detroit has 40% poverty rate. That means that 4 out of every 10 person living in Detroit live in poverty. The population has declined from 1.8 million to just 700,000 and the average per capita earning is 26,000 dollars a year. To give you something to compare it to, California's per capita is around 55,000. Not to mention that Detroit made the national news last week as they are the largest city in the history of America to file for bankruptcy. They have the highest crime rate in the nation and a struggling education system. Abandoned buildings are a metaphor for the abandoned hope that remains for the people living there. The cycle of poverty that the people live in give little respite for the children growing up there.

My heart breaks because this type of thing is happening in America, America! It is insane that we live in one of the richest countries in the world and yet we have this problem. 

God has placed a calling on my life. I know that I am destined to go to Detroit. I don't know his exact plan but I do know that God is going to do great things in Detroit. I am praying that I bring (though the power of the Holy Spirit) hope to the people of Detroit. I am crying out to God for revival, and renewal for that city. I don't know exactly what to expect and I know it may sound crazy to some of you that I am going willingly into one of the most dangerous places in the USA, but I know that the safest place on earth to be is in the will of the Most High Abba. 

The city of Detroit was built upon the ROCK, Matthew said it best when he said,  “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” Detroit was founded on the rock and I believe that the rain and storm of life has beat it up, but that city was claimed for The Lord at its foundation and my prayer is that Detroit will see renewal!

I am going to try and update this blog each day of my trip so that I can keep an accurate account of the days. I hope that you are blessed with my words and the amazing things that God is going to do in the city that needs him, his love, his hope, and his grace so much. 

Tomorrow.

Random-Summer-picture dump!

I happened, it finally happened! The last day of school, it came, it went, and we've almost been on vacation for a full month. Not sure where that month went, all I know is I've had an amazing time of resting, relaxing, and learning more about my Lord. I plan on taking some more time this week in updating about my life, but until then....here are a few pictures from the summer (so far)

Faith

Faith isn't logical. But it isn't illogical either. Faith is theological. It does not ignore reality; it just adds God into the equation.

Lately there has been many things in my life that I have had to step out in faith on. It isn't always an easy process to step out in faith, but it always is the right choice. I am so thankful that I KNOW when God asks me to do something I know without a doubt that he will follow through with his promise.

I am moving out on my own in two weeks. It has been on my heart for a few months and I know that God has called me out for such a time as this. I am nervous and and slightly anxious for the monetary situation and just to be truly alone....except God has asked me to make this step, so I know for certain that he is a God of riches, and he will take care of his daughter. FAITH. I also know that I will never be truly "alone" because God is constantly right there. FAITH. It is a new journey and a new chapter in my life. My earthly desires wish that this is the path that will lead me to my husband and children and if that happens I will be very happy, BUT if it doesn't and this journey leads me somewhere else I know that God will be with me the entire way. FAITH What a wonderful thing to be able to say, I have a loving savior who is always looking out for my best interests and who loves me more than any person on this earth. I think to truly grasp that concept is unfathomable. I serve a good God.

School is now out, and while I will be taking time for myself, I have WORK to do. My goals for this summer are three fold....FITNESS-I want to focus on the Paleo diet and eating right. I also want to workout at least 5 times a week. SCHOOL-I want to get my unit plans/ASB stuff done, I want these done to start the school year off on the right foot. AND most importantly--FAITH-I want to spend time each day with my Lord and become even closer to him and his heart.

Detroit--I will be also stepping out in FAITH this summer and I will be going on a mission trip. I am SO excited to be able to step out and use my God given talents and my love of people to serve the broken heart-ed of this world. God's first commandment was to love the Lord my God with all my heart and soul (see above-spending time with him) and the second was to love your neighbor as yourself, this summer I will be working on loving my neighbor as myself.

Faith--at the end of the day it is all I have.

"Cast your cares upon the Lord and he will sustain you, he will never let the righteous be shaken" Psalms 55:22

Lord make me righteous.