“45C” … Doing Good!
“For we are God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” *
A few weeks ago, Al and I had a great opportunity to go on a local mission outreach with our grandson Nate, who’s soon to be a fifth grader. Nate’s group of fourth and fifth graders from church, also known as 45Christians or 45C, spent five consecutive days in the Detroit area focusing on service projects.
It began on Sunday morning, July 14, when a large group of 45C kids attended the contemporary service together. The pastor prayed for and encouraged them, as well as the staff and volunteers that would be accompanying them.
After the service and lunch, everyone involved piled into vehicles loaded with garden equipment and went south to the “Butterfly Park” in a disadvantaged neighborhood about 35 minutes away. Nate’s younger brother Elliot, was also able to participate since that day was designated as a service project for the family. In spite of it being a hot day, the group transformed the neglected butterfly garden by weeding, planting flowers and painting benches. The tiny park was situated on a vacant lot and had been established by a community association to help beautify the neighborhood. When we were finished, as if to say “Thank you” a large orange butterfly flew over the newly renovated garden — the “Monarch” giving its approval!
Nate went by himself on Monday and helped make sandwiches for the people at the NOAH project, where they would be serving the next day. He also got to go back to the Butterfly park to help water the new plants and then enjoyed a picnic and playtime at a different park closer to our home church.
On Tuesday, the kids served sack lunches to people at the NOAH project, located on the upper floor of the Central United Methodist Church in downtown Detroit. A member of the church met us there and ushered us into the main sanctuary where he told some of its history. The cathedral was constructed in the mid-1800’s and is beautiful with tall spires, a huge round stainedglass window and polished wooden pews.
Metal vents were placed in the floor of the sanctuary to conduct cool air from a space just underneath that was filled with blocks of ice when the weather was hot! Nowadays, the church relies on portable fans for cooling. When we went upstairs especially, we could understand why people were eager to sit next to the fans. It was hot and muggy inside the building.
When it was time for them to help with lunch, the kids rotated through three stations: serving sandwiches and bag lunches to a long line of people, most of whom had been waiting quite a while; circulating around the tables with pitchers of juice or coffee; and bagging saltines to put in sack lunches on subsequent days. An intern with the project helped supervise and explained more about the acronym “NOAH” which means “Networking, Organizing and Assisting the Homeless.”
This was an eyeopening experience for many of the kids. Some of them felt uncomfortable in that environment, however they all tried to interact with the people. Nate and I met a woman named Eartha who was eating lunch at a round table. She brightened up when she met him. He was the same age as her grandson and they shared things in common, like birthdays in July and a love for Legos.
Although it sounded like she had a home base and family in the area, Eartha told me she needed a place to stay for the night. She had filled out paperwork earlier and was waiting for someone to contact her. Eartha had strong faith in the Lord and a sweet smile that told of a sweeter spirit! We were able to pray together — a special moment. She asked if she could pray for me and that was special too! th
Wednesday and Thursday were also days of service for the kids as well as times of playing with children at a day camp run by the city, water fun, ice cream and more. It was a positive first experience for Nate and his grandparents! Hopefully we will be able to experience more opportunities to serve others in the future and live out the logo on the bright orange Tshirts worn every day… “DO GOOD!”
*Ephesians 2:10