Week 7
What. A. Week.
It started out with an interesting Mystery Monday. We learned five important life skills with different stations. Changing a tire/checking oil, writing thank you cards (which can go a long way!), two-stepping (I am now a pro), how to manage yourself during an interview, and how to share the gospel. These, I thought, were all great skills to learn. They were all informative and fun!
A few hours after Mystery Monday ended we started our trek up to Kansas City where our Urban Entry was. We went straight to a house where we were welcomed with a meal catered by Oklahoma Joes. Now, this wasn’t the first time for me but if you haven’t had some Oklahoma Joes, you’re missing out. We hung out for a little bit, played some ping-pong, piano and played some games. The next day we headed over to the Hope Center which is a
“Christian community development organization that, out of our belief in God, is working diligently to renew the forgotten impoverished east side community where we live and serve. We are investing in its people, in particular the youth, anticipating that their transformed8 lives will offer the hope and leadership needed for our inner city community to flourish.”
This was such a blessing to be able to help out an amazing program. We did most of our work in a deserted church that is owned by the Hope Center and is right next to it. On Wednesday we got the pleasure of listening to DA Horton who is one of the best communicators I’ve heard. Here is a book he wrote called G.O.S.P.E.L., which I have not read but I’m sure it’s amazing and I cannot wait to read it.
What I took out of Urban Entry was how much more my worldview has expanded in knowledge just from what I’ve seen in one of the most dangerous cities in the US. And also in 2009 Forbes Magazine named KC the most abandoned city. To me this was very eye opening to see all of the hurt and abandonment where there is a lot of potential. A lot of the houses there are abandoned which makes the cost for some of the houses very inexpensive. The Hope Center recently bought a three-story house for $3,000 and made it livable for about $7,000 more. The demand for living in this area is so low. This was definitely one of my favorite weeks so far.
Pictures are not up yet but will be in the next few days @ Link Year's Flickr.
Until next time.