November 2011
12 posts
Evening of Art & Charity
Save the date! Friday, December 2, 7-9pm.
We hope to see you there!
My Cup Runneth Over - by Ellen Karagoulis
“The Lord gives strength to His people; the Lord blesses His people with peace.” – Psalm 29:11
My best friend’s little brother once sang happily to himself, “I have everything I need, I have a wallet to put my stuff in! I have everything I need….” If it’s just that simple, then why do I get so overwhelmed? Contentment is having what you need… just for today.
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Evening of Art & Charity
Please join us for the upcoming Evening of Art & Charity, a event benefitting YouthWorks-Detroit. On Friday, December 2, 2011 from 7:00-9:00pm, Detroit artist Yvette Rock & jeweler Marylou Leger will be selling creative works to benefit YouthWorks-Detroit.
Evening of Art & Charity will be hosted by Chuck & Laurie McLeod: 1145 Great Oaks Blvd., Rochester, MI 48307. Light...
October 2011
13 posts
“O Christ, we begin to see thy secret. Thou didst lay hold of life when life was...”
– E. Stanley Jones
“Suffering is the seed of compassion.”
Suffering as the Margin of Life
A lot of us connected with our small community in Detroit have been facing significant suffering lately. For someone created in the image of God, this suffering helps us to become more human, and as we love our way through it, we paradoxically become more like the One in who’s image we are created. And in our challenges, being stripped down to the faith to rely on the only One who can...
Pressing On
Chris Diroff recently visited Chris Parish at Bluffton University, where Chris, our former youth group core group member and StreetTeam Crew Leader, is pressing on to take hold of the life for which Jesus has taken hold of him.
Far busier than a typical freshman schedule, Chris is doing his best to maintain top grades even as he competes with Bluffton’s JV football team as a first year...
Communitas
The word “community” comes from the Latin word “communitas.” If you break that down, it makes another two Latin words: cum, meaning “with” or “together,” and the word munus, which means “gift.” (Who knew my four grueling years of Latin would someday come in handy?) I have been reflecting a lot about what “community” is...
WatchYouthWorks-Detroit’s StreetTeam Leadership Program had an amazing summer in 2011, with youth and interns alike encountering the living God through challenges, life together, and each other. What more could we ask for? Enjoy some of the highlights … and some of the bloopers! (Set to Lecrae’s ‘Don’t Waste Your Life.’)
Isaiah 44:21-28
“Remember these things, Jacob, for you, Israel, are my servant. I have made you, you are my servant; Israel, I will not forget you. I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you.”
Sing for joy, you heavens, for the LORD has done this; shout aloud, you earth beneath. Burst into song, you mountains, you forests and...
Man Up!
This past Friday, we took our youth group kids to a concert event called Man Up Detroit. It was organis(z if you’re American)ed by a group of Christian Gospel rappers including Lecrae, Trip Lee, Tedashii and a few others, who together are called 116 Clique and was part of a tour that is hitting the major cities of the USA. The theme of the event was to inspire within the young men of the city a...
Saying YES
The Basilica of St. Mary in Livonia came out to serve in the city of Detroit on a recent Saturday, and were excited to encounter Christ here in our urban setting. The youth from the ‘Rocky Road’ youth group had a lot to say, to offer, and to take in as they served - both with surprise at unexpected poverty, and with surprise at unexpected signs of the church coming alive. Detroit,...
The Beauty of Detroit
The skyline of Downtown Detroit is so beautiful, and yet it is not the true beauty of this amazing city. The sunrise and sunset make for beautiful viewing, especially in this season, but none of this beauty comes close to the glorious beauty God has bestowed upon us through the people of this city. Every day we see God’s love made flesh in the faces of those who we serve and in how they, in...
Isaiah 43:1-3
“But now, thus says the LORD, your Creator, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel, ‘Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine! When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, nor will the flame burn you. For I am the LORD your God, the...
Faithful
God is faithful and trustworthy. I’ll say it again-God is faithful! Why is it so easy to doubt this? The whole history of the human race testifies to God’s faithfulness despite our own unfaithfulness-and man, have we been unfaithful. Throughout my time here in Detroit, He is again proving His faithfulness and calling me to a deeper trust in Him. Now, this may sound very abstract and...
September 2011
10 posts
Isaiah 61:4
“Then they will rebuild the ancient ruins, they will raise up the former devastations, and they will repair the ruined cities, the desolations of many generations.” (NASB) Detroit is a city in need of rebuilding. There are blocks filled with grass and wildflowers where houses once stood. There are beautiful houses abandoned to decay. And there are broken families, broken homes, broken...
Diamonds in the Rough
As I was about to leave Minnesota, to embark on my new journey in Detroit, I felt like God was stripping me of all my treasures, to which I was clutching so dearly. My family, close friends, my community of believers, financial stability, comfort and familiarity, all of my treasures-God was gently asking me to open my hands and let them go. I felt almost defeated and even angry with God that He...
Zechariah 6:15
“People will come from distant lands to rebuild the Temple of the Lord. And when this happens, you will know that my messages have been from the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. All this will happen if you carefully obey what the Lord your God says.” (NLT)
I am very blessed that I can meditate on this scripture passage and share it with you. I feel a strong connection with it because I,...
God's Smuggler
Several weeks ago, as part of our GAP training, we read the book God’s Smuggler. In this book, there was a monkey to whom the main character was very attached; it was his best friend. The time came for him to release the monkey into the wild. Once the monkey was removed from his life he felt lonesome and disconnected, as though he has lost the one thing upon which he could depend. However,...
