Well the dust has settled from our Kettle season. From the beginning of November to Christmas Eve our jobs our consumed entirely by our efforts to raise funds that enable us to do work in the community. What a stressful yet rewarding time. I still am having dreams about bell ringers, and related things. It's like in High School when you would hear the school bell going off in your sleep on Saturdays. We finished our kettle inventory two days ago and have no put this thing to bed until Fall. Now we can get on with planning for this year. And what a year it is going to be! We employed 102 people for six weeks, and contributed around 100k in compensation which helped our employees (many of whom are unemployed and hurting) out a lot. We also surpassed our goal by around 30k.
Rachel and I tooka week off to recooperate, and then got down to business. We started putting together a list of ideas/programs/goals that we wanted to accomplish this year. However, we were constantly interupted by phone calls, and other distractions. So, we decided that the next day we would head up to the prayer room (in the upper youth hall) in our building. It's not super convenient for those who aren't able bodied, but for someone who needs to get away and be in secullsion, it is awesome. Right away we could hear God, and feel God stirring in our hearts and minds. We were able to discuss point by point each of our goals and through prayer, sift through what God would have us do and what not to do. In the end, we spent a good portion of two days (two work shifts) up there hammering out goals, plans, and logistics.
God has big things planned for our corps as we rapidly become an urban corps that is welcoming to people from a variety of cultures. Here are some of the plans we are working out.
The Salvo Meeting
Back in the day, The Sal used to march through the downtown and attract people to them, which they would lead to the corps for a meeting which was oriented to the seeker, the unsaved, the lost, whatever you want to call them. After a while (and this is my opinion) it stopped becoming effective, and became a second meeting for members to attend or participate in. While I was living in Lansing, they ended that meeting.
Now we have a reason to have another meeting like this. We have neighbors, and friends, and people who are looking for Jesus, looking to learn, looking for a church to belong to. And so, we are starting up The Salvo Meeting. This meeting will take place on the first and third Saturdays of the month beginning February 6th at 6:00pm. It is our hope that this will be an option for: people who do not feel connected with a church, people who want to learn about Jesus, people who work or will not attend a Sunday morning service, people in the neighborhood, and anyone else. As with the Salvation Meetings of past, we encourage soldiers (members of The Sal) to get involved.
Elements of the meeting (from what we have initially brainstormed) would include: welcome/fellowship time, music, the bible (reading, praying, contemplation), people sharing their story (testimonies), other readings (worship bible, etc..), prayer (individual, corporate, prayer stations), announcements, the use of the prayer room for the continued work of The Holy Spirit (before and after meetings) involving soldiers, adherents, and attendees, and a challenge/story/conclusion. The goal of the meeting is that every element ties into the common theme of Jesus as our savior and the specific theme for that night.
Meetings will be held in the Upper Youth Hall where the first Salvation Meetings (and Holiness Meetings) were held. Our hope is that these will eventually become a weekly meeting.
Salvo Spring Break
Plans are under way for an alternative/service oriented spring break called "Salvo Spring Break". If you're not familiar with this type of spring break, it is an increasingly popular way for students to spend their spring break. It allows for them to contribute to the community and help make a difference. A lot of times, these are run by Christian groups and are almost like mission trips. We considered several projects that students could work on in the neighborhood as well as in the corps, but ultimately decided to choose a large project that would allow for students to make a big impact in the neighborhood and potentially the corps.
Salvo Spring Break will take place March 1st-5th during the UM Flint Spring Break. Each day will start out with a meal, prayer, and a devotion. Our work site will hopefully be 923 Oak Street. This house is one of the first houses you see on your way into our neighborhood and downtown Flint. The house next door is slated for demo, but this house can be saved. Our hope is to removed the debris from inside the house and get it ready for a rehab. This house is also a house that the neighborhood wants us to use as a co-op or gap year house, which would house students or salvos who are committed to work in the neighborhood for a year. Getting into this house and getting ready for a rehab would be beneficial to us as we hope to launch a Salvo House in the Fall or Summer. There is a tremendous amount of momentum for this project. We hope that this comes to fruition and that it results in a house for us to use.
Mommy Cafe'
Rachel is launching a new group for mom's tentatively called "Mommy Cafe'". The group will meet the last saturday of the month (except this month it will be January 23rd). The group will have guest speakers such as pediatricians, and other people who can offer valuable information to the moms and their children. The group will also offer a chance for Mother's to interact with their young children along side other mothers and their children.
Starting Point
This is a class for those interested in learning more about Christianity, Jesus, The Bible, The church, and more. Also, for those who want a refresher. For more info click here. This 10 week class has a more modern feel and is shorter than the Alpha courses which a lot of churches use. Our goal is to invite/offer this class on Thursday nights at 6:30pm when people are already down here or can come early before dodge ball for this.
Booth School of Life Mgmt.
This is a series of classes that teach life skills such as budgeting, computer use, etc. We actually decided to put this on hold for the time being. While it is very important to have life skills, we do not know people who have a need, or rather recognize their need for these skills. We could offer them, but most likely no one would show up. So instead, we are praying about some campaigns we can start in our neighborhood to reach out to those in our neighborhood who people detest and want out of the neighborhood. These people would include: the prostitutes that reside or use a house on Ann Arbor Street, the drug dealers on Oak, Stockton, and Ann Arbor Streets, the people who openly live off socialized welfare so that they can begin consuming drugs and alcohol every day from morning until evening and who trash the neighborhood with their trash. These people need Jesus. They need life skills. But they don't see it. So we are praying for an "in" with them and a way in which we can begin an assault on the hold that satan has on them.
Student Housing Bible Study
We're working with the newly renovated Riverfront student housing to host one or more bible studies in their building for college students. Student ministries continues to be a difficult ministry avenue, but we are not giving up.
Dinner Parties
When the dust finally clears from having a newborn baby, and a house under renovation, we are going to begin to invite our neighbors in to our house for dinner parties.
So those are the new projects that we are working on. Meanwhile we continue on with existing ministries: Picnics in the Park (Summer), Monday night bible study, Youth Fun Nights, Family Fun Nights, Prayer Walks/Prayer Room, dodgeball/open gym, neighborhood projects, Clean & Green, Keep Genesee County Beautiful (I69 and gateway gardens), and more.
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