So… here’s my brief rendition of Saturday’s events (in case you  missed them!)

We moved our program to the Detroit Public Library on Saturday because CDC was having a first-aid training at their headquarters. We arrive at CDC in the morning, Mike goes to get the van to do pick-ups. He starts to back out the car, and lo and behold – there’s a complete flat tire.  He calls me and we divy up the rounds between our cars. We arrive at the library with no less than four cars, all of the children in tow, and begin our program.

I bring carrots and string cheese for snack. The cheese is always a great hit, the carrots -not so much. Sigh. How will we secretly sneak in produce into their diet? (note- the City of Detroit has no grocery stores).

The kids are great, (Justin misses Garrett – A LOT), we say our goodbyes and head home. I’m finally driving on the 94 back toward Ann Arbor and receive a call from Nishba. I forgot to drop off the van keys. Sigh. We turn around, head to the church she’s at (avoiding the funeral procession coming out of it), and then make our way back to Ann Arbor, just 25 minutes later than our normal “back in tree town” deadline.

Just another normal 313 day. Sure, things come up. We’ve managed. Our volunteers are great at rolling with all of the unknowns that seem to spring up last minute.  Versatility and flexibility are a must – if you want to be in this program. You just can’t plan for everything, right? We survived our last program day!!

Stay tuned – Donna is planning a great little awards ceremony for next Saturday. Send her your nominations for “best” and “most likely.” We’re hitting up the Tigers v. Oakland game next Saturday afternoon to celebrate a job well done for our kids and volunteers.

Join us for the fun! We’re also secretly using this day to plan our summer book club to help some of our kids read. Interested? Drop us a comment or email us.

I had to write and give credit to Vivek for speaking his mind and conviction, in an Opinion letter in the Detroit Free Press on May 6th. Click here for the article. 

Thanks, Vivek, for sharing your passion and thoughts on ways to achieve a more just and fair system that is mindful of our children’s best interest. 

You don’t have to be Don Imus or a member of the Rutgers Women’s Basketball team to know that we still have a long way to go in the way of race relations here in the U.S. Sadly the Christian community is in no way an exception to that rule. We have the same struggles, the same hurdles to cross that everyone else does. But it doesn’t have to stay that way.

Doing Reconciliation 2007 is a joint event between churches in the city and the suburbs: the South Eastern Michigan Vineyard churches, the LOGOS COGIC Church and the Lighthouse District of the local COGIC churches. The event will take place on the evening of April 22nd in Detroit and some of us from the 313 will be heading over from Ann Arbor for the event.

Email garrettjstrattonATgmail.com if you are interested in going and take a look at the 2007 Doing Reconciliation Event Flyer for more information about time and place.

“…In kingdom work, we make a mistake when we start with ecclesiology. We should start with Christology. Our first approach should be ‘How can we live out the love of Jesus in this society?’

A link to a rather compelling article found on The Christian Vision Project.

To all of our volunteers – THANK YOU for your continued commitment to what God is doing in Detroit. Because of your commitment and love for these kids, we’re able to expand our program to ten kids beginning this Saturday!

Also, Thanks for your patience… The computers, fully equipped to run PLATO will be back up and running, fingers-crossed, by Saturday, March 10!

Thanks to all of your and God’s faithfulness.

Our schedule is back on track! We’ll be in Detroit at CDC this Saturday, as well as Jan 27, Feb 10, and Feb 24. Drop us a comment if you want more info!