We're beginning to have concerts again at The Sal. We moved the stage and lighting up to the Upper Youth Hall to function for Youth Worship Band as well as concerts. Our first one is on 2/19 featuring all local artists. We have several more planned for March and April. These shows are always a fun time and a great way to open our building up and provide some entertainment and support of the local arts.

We're still putting together the musicians for the salvo meeting, and lining up people to share testimonies, read scripture, etc.. It's a very scary process, planning a worship service. You constantly have to humble yourself, look to the needs of others, and constantly step back and let God lead. All we can do is trust that God has a reason for this meeting and that no matter how slow or fast moving it may be, He will be present and at work. The theme of the first few (maybe more) meetings is going to be "Knowing God".

We had a neighborhood land use meeting on Sunday at The White Horse Tavern, during which we discussed the houses that Habitat has targeted for rehab, new builds, as well as houses we want to try and save as a neighborhood. We also discussed The Salvo House and our progress on it, which is slow going. The neighborhood is enthralled with our plans and applauded us when we announced our plan for The Salvo House. We also have tremendous support from Advisory Board, which is a group of board members from the community who help guide The Sal in our efforts to be good members of the community. After the Land Use Meeting, two friends/residents gave me a tour of the potential house and discussed options for rehab. The neighborhood wants us to occupy the adjacent property to the south where a house still sits but is soon to be demolished, as well as the property to the rear of the house up to Grand Traverse. This property is a perfect spot for a Salvo House. It is the first house you see as you enter downtown, and a big shield on the front would really speak to the neighborhoods shared values of renewal, rebuilding, and restoration of the neighborhood/city.

As we finished up we ran into a 65 yr old woman who was walking the neighborhood. She used to live here but now lives not far away in Mott Park. We gave her a tour of the house and discussed all that the neighborhood, Habitat, and The Sal are doing in it. She was so excited. It is great to be immersed in such a passionate, hopeful, unified neighborhood.

As we were discussing other matters, we noticed a man carrying a microwave down the street. This is one of the most frustrating things we see here. No doubt it was stolen, judging by the house it was going into. Our local gas station also is a place where people will bring merchandise stolen from our neighborhood in hopes of selling it to someone filling up their car for enough to buy a fix. It makes me mad. My first thought is securing my house more, putting up privacy fencing and other things that discourage trespassing, but then that wouldn't be very neighborly. I don't want to be like Wilson from Home Improvement, only showing the top half of my head. I want to be a good steward of our house and lead by example how to make my house look nice and clean.

And so, my second thought is that of campaigns. Our neighborhood desperately needs some good ole Salvation Army campaigns. Campaigns against the strongholds of the enemies such as the drug and human trafficking that happens on Ann Arbor Street, or against those who are up earlier than I am and already have a bottle in their hand. It seems that as Salvationists in this neighborhood,we fight on two fronts: for the betterment of the neighborhood as a whole, and for the souls of our neighbors who are in enslaved to 40oz, petty theft, drugs, violence, laziness, horrid living conditions, and so on. The longer I live here, the more similarities I see with late 19th century London, the time when The Salvation Army was founded.

If I am honest (though I fear I may anger some people), I wish instead of a holiness meeting, we met at the corps and then went on campaigns in the neighborhood. I'd rather see uniforms, the shield, the flag, the crest, the preaching, etc, in the neighborhood than in a building. Of course we need to hear God's word and worship Him, but it is hard to sit through the service knowing that those people are out there and at that moment from 11am to noon there are over a hundred people in a building who could be helping people, praying for people, loving people, casting out demons, calling out people to repentance, and discipling them. In no way am I criticizing The Salvation Army. I am merely trying to articulate how living in the neighborhood has changed me. I know we can't get rid of the holiness meeting, nor do I really want to. I guess that's where The Salvo Meetings and other things we do come in to play. And wouldn't it be awesome to have every able bodied SA member out there with us?