Kind of a quiet week here. Well, for me at least. Rachel is in kettle planning mode. We have our bell ringer job fare next Wednesday. Then we start working on scheduling etc.. We start our kettle campaign on November the 12th. We're always looking for volunteers. Typically we still have to hire around 80 people. While it does take away from the fundraising, it does provide work for people. For most of the people we hire, we are their only source of work/income for the whole year.

Dave is continuing to do well here. He hasn't been able to find employment and so he may also be a bell ringer for us, and hopefully find work after the holidays. Meanwhile, he's developing relationships with college students at UM Flint, attending an inter university bible study, a campus church service, and networking with Intervarsity, and Campus Crusade (both at UM Flint). Some student have asked if we reach out to the other colleges such as Kettering, and Mott Community College.

We're exploring ways to connect with our neighborhood's large adult foster care population. We've been throwing ideas out there such as: game nights, gym/recreation, movie nights, or maybe a cafe (for lack of a better definition) of sorts where they can hang out and interact. This could be a ways away though, as we need to make inroads with the population and the managers of the AFC houses.

I've been in touch with a large group of friends discussing the idea of a gathering in the neighborhood that is something along the lines of a bile study and a worship service. It could be a middle ground for those who don't attend a church and may be looking, or those who don't have any Christinan beliefs to explore Christianity within their neighborhood and outside of a traditional church building. Others have said, they desire a place where they can talk about issues on their heart that are sometimes polarizing in an established congregation such as climate change, social justice, puppy mills, etc.. These things generlly fall under stewardship of the environment or creation, but are divisive right now. Some have said, they want a place where they can talk about their dream for the world or church. I can see this including families, people of all ages, races, etc. We'll see what happens with this. We always try to dream up potential ministries, and sometimes the ideas fail, or change, or sit on the backburner until the timing is right. What I don't want to see is the far opposite of what people see the church as (hyper conservative, restrictive, politically aligned with one party, etc..) but an open community of people. But realy, who knows what this will look like. I'm trying to keep my involvement in its development to a minimum so that the people who might attend, take ownership and lead the design of this gathering. Above all, I want to continue to reach people whatever way it takes. This one I fear, could come across as controversial. But didn't Paul say that it is good when people are for or against the gospel because both bring attention to the gospel.

We've been having some heated discussions about the issues in our city and in our neighborhood lately. I find myself getting mroe and more angry (not frustrated) when I see teenage girls from the suburbs buying drugs on our street, or crackheads hanging out on anyone's property, napping in people's yards, etc.. Another thing that makes me mad is our our congressional district's poverty rate. Scroll down to the map and enter your zip code to see what your district's poverty rate is. The latest thing to get me angry is that our city is promoting fair housing month, but its focus is all on home ownership instead of advocating for the people who rent from slum lords, live in condemned property that is still being rented out, places that blatantly fail code compliance, and are unsafe and hazardous to ones health. Andy and I are looking at doing something to raise awareness of this.

Last, this weekend we have two events going on on 10.10.10 to raise awareness of Climate Change. While not Sal Army sponsored, Andy our housemate has launched these events. The first is a bike ride/pimp your ride through the downtown area on Sunday at 3pm. The second is a film called "The Age of Stupid", a film set in the future which looks back at our time and how we could have done more to prevent climate change. Again, a controversial issue, but I am intersted in seeing the film. My thought in climate change is that even if we aren't affecting the climate as much as some believe, we still should reduse our consumption and waste.