Day 4 Reflections

4️⃣ observations on day 4️⃣!

1️⃣ Expectations often need to be adjusted. This does not mean lowering your standards, but it does mean adjusting the expectations based on the situation, facts, and circumstances. I enjoy lawn mowing and love, love, love the clean crisp lines of freshly mowed grass, especially on a nice diagonal perpendicular to the previous mowing. Today, I was mowing vacant lots with sometimes knee high “grass” on a riding mower that was NOT zero turn. The wavy lines from treeline and the long grass sneakily escaping the blade here and there would not meet my normal expectations, but that wasn’t reasonable or even possible in the circumstances. The lots looked fantastic when we finished. REVISED expectations exceeded!

2️⃣ You never know what is lurking beneath…so it isn’t a bad idea to use a little caution. We’ve repeatedly reminded the youth not to stick there hands in piles and always wear your gloves. A simple piece of trash that appears to be a napkin may be a full used diaper, a little pile of grass may be a hunk of concrete from the recent house demo waiting to eat you (or your mower blade) alive!

2️⃣.5️⃣ Teamwork – I can do things you cannot, you can do things I cannot. Together, we can do great things! Mother Theresa

This is true on so many levels and for so many reasons. On a riding mower, I could not mow over all the ruts and steep inclines, over concrete chunks and next to flower boxes. The Weed Whacker Team was on it. They could’ve weed whacked the three lots all through the night. But together, we accomplished so much more. The same is true not only for using the physical tools but also for using our spiritual tools. We all have different God given gifts and when we bring them all together to serve, the outcome is so much sweeter!

3️⃣ Celebrate with a smile or ice cream or both! True to form, Kyle found us another ice cream treat after a long hot day of hard work. You may think the highlight was the ice cream itself, but it may have been the big smile on a little boys’ face at the ice cream shop!

3️⃣.5️⃣ The irony isn’t lost on me…

🍃We have spent hours volunteering this week doing landscaping and yardwork to help revitalize Detroit, meanwhile I’m paying a small fee to have major landscaping done at home.

🥧Kyle urgently made sure all the GCC adults were in the parking lot this evening because the youth paid to throw a pie in Dan-Dan’s face. He thought she was the perfect one to pie. But when the time came, they pied Kyle Brown and HE was the perfect one to pie!

🚙 The roads in Motor City are nothing short of awful!

🏙 Detroit has a bad reputation for Crime, Corruption, and the Car Industry (or decline of such). There is even a store Detroit vs Everybody. No one wants to go to Detroit. Well, no one except me – now! There are so many things I’ve enjoyed or would like to try another time. I’m not against Detroit, I’m with them!

4️⃣ Simple things in life are often the most fun…

🏃🏽‍♂️Youth racing their pastor down the street AFTER a full work day. Kyle was solidly in the middle of the pack. As he’s approaching 40 years old, a 40m dash was all he could handle. My money is on the youth in any longer race!

🎨Tonight, we went for a walk in the Eastern Market neighborhood and looked at the massive, colorful, and creative murals while snappimg fun photos and engaging in meaningful conversations. Who knew the paint on the outside of a building could be so aamaxikg and impactful.

Finally I leave you with the quote on one of the murals… They thought they could bury us, but they didn’t know they we were seeds. This incredible mural and quote led to engaging discussions about different perspectives of the mural. It can be interpreted and applied in so many situations, I’ll be unpacking that one for a while!

Yes I said 4.

Yes I can count.

Yes I lied.

Shortsweet is not exactly my style.

But this introvert needs some downtime and reflection at the day and makes for good Facebook memories down the road!

Love with your laugh. Love with your smile. Love with your eyes. Love. ❤️

Day 4 | Thursday

This morning we woke up at about 7:10 am then we went down stairs and started are day. We were working with the founders of Resource Community Devlopment Corporation Ada and Arthur. Ian, Tyler, Mr. Burhenn , Mrs. Lindsey, Arthur and I weed whacked and mowed a giant open yard. There were weeds everywhere and Mrs. Linsey did a really good on the riding lawn mower, and Arthur used the chainsaw. We finished fast and everything looked really good. While we were doing weed whacking a couple blocks away the other groups were working. Braden, Savannah, Taylor and Mr. Craig worked really hard and completing there two flower beds really fast and really well. The other group of Nick, Paige, Olivia, Ava, Brady, Matthew and Kyle did really good on here two flowerbeds also. At about noon we had a lunch break and had fun but after the break we went right back to working. We went to a new place right around the corner it was messed up. It had big branches hanging in the sidewalk and lots of cracks in the side walk. There where weeds everywhere and straight away we got to work. But one by one the weed whackers stopped working. Until it was only Mr. Burham and Mrs. Linsey the weed whackers were not he best quality and Mr. Burhams was really heavy and nice, the riding lawn mower was slow but worked so we separated into the other groups. Tyler and I helped Dan Dan, Hailey and Arthur fed the trees, and attached a tree to a metal rod because it was tilted twords the street. We worked as hard as we could hammering the rod into the the ground it was hard. While we where doing that Mr. Craig, Braden, Savannah, Matthew and Brady were trimming the long branch’s and Bush’s that were around the sidewalk. Nick, Paige, Olivia and Ava all picked up trash and debree and you could see trash anywhere they did really good. We had worked really hard we joked around had fun made a difference. Thats what all of us came here to do make a difference and bring back this amazing city called Detroit.

Day 3 Review from Lindsey

Hump day on GCC HS Mission trip was full of life lessons…

😴 Sleep – is does a body good. Just like you put your oxygen mask in before you help others on a plane, you have to take care of yourself so you can help care for others. We slept in just a bit today and it made a world of difference. The sugar in the Dutch Girl Donuts might have helped just a tad!

🎧 Luxuries taken for granted. NOAH offers support to the homeless including a mailing address. Yes a mailing address… did you ever think of that as a luxury? What could you do without an address? How would you fill out paperwork for assistance or jobs? Also they offer computer access… some people just sit at the computer to listen to music. Listening to music, a luxury…? Yes, yes it is.

🌇Beauty is all around, sometimes where you least expect it. We enjoyed our meager sack lunch in the rooftop garden of Central United Methodist Church and the views were fantastic! I didn’t think I’d describe Detroit as being beautiful, did you? But it is…from multiple angles high and low. Yes, views from up high because the rooftop garden was on the roof…just in case you wondered!

🌀The line isn’t always straight, the process isn’t always tidy (even though every ounce in my body wants it to be just as planned!) In the midst of chaos, we can accomplish great things. Despite confusion, contradictions, and lack of clarity at our afternoon site, we left the place more beautiful than when we arrived having hauled & spread mulch, created beds & paths, transplanted plants, moved dirt, moved rocks, laid brick edging, weeded.

☘️ Leaves of three, let them be! Enough said!

🤦🏼‍♂️If you stop vehicle when it’s pulling away so you can get something out of the back, it would be wise to close the door after you get said item out of the back. Crisis averted. We did NOT leave our belongings strewn down the street.

🤣 Laughter brings people together… A trivia game where you can’t talk or are simultaneously playing Simon Says. And, the most bizarre card game I’ve ever not learned but still played – Mao. Playing cards, in silence, with pranks, unknown rules, and ridiculous motions and sayings just trying to guess the rules is a way to laugh *with* people doing stupid things, boost Rev. Kyle’s ego as he plays the Mao Master, and finish our day in community and lighthearted laughter.

Laugh often, Live well, Love all!

Hey everyone my name is Braden Yu and I am a rising sophomore on the Detroit mission trip. So far my experience has been great, we are sharing a space with multiple other churches which is a change but I am enjoying the extra company. This morning we woke up bright and early at 6:45 and went down to make our lunches and eat breakfast. After breakfast we then packed and left to go and work at our partnership with N.O.A.H. N.O.A.H is a non for profit organization that helps support those who are experiencing homelessness. At the location we helped pack lunches by making sandwiches and packing snacks. We also got to meet and interact with the people who we were helping. After 3 hours of making lunches and talking with the community; we got to enjoy our own lunches on the rooftop garden at N.O.A.H’s building. After lunch we all loaded onto the bus and went to our second worksite; where we landscaped and took down forested areas. Overall today was a great day and I am looking forward to the rest of the week and I’m glad we get these opportunities to go on amazing mission trips like this.

Day Two Review by Lindsey

Full and deep is the best way to describe day 2 on the GCC HS mission trip. Full in that the experiences and education touch all parts of body, mind, and soul – some in deep and meaningful ways.

❤️Anything living and growing together becomes completely entwined in one another whether it be people or large weeds, small trees, and chain linked fences. In the case of the latter, wire cutters to the rescue!

🧡Detroit and Indianapolis are similar in a lot of ways….now I have you thinking!

💛An amazing organization is one that works not only to improve and sustain the neighborhoods as part of its mission but also to teach and empower the volunteers. Ada and Arthur are the A-team of Amazing.

💚People are willing to close themselves in a pitch black luggage compartment of a bus solo if it means changing from pants to shorts. We are resourceful!

💙Move over Louve, I’m in love with the Detroit Institute of Art. We learned about the industry and history of Detroit, the advances of medicine, the dangers of factories, the political struggles, the forward thinking of equal rights, the interplay between the blue collar and white collar world all from the coolest mural I have ever seen that is intricate, bright, vibrant, and about 80 years old. We traveled to a French gothic chapel (down the hall) and watched the strength of a woman not spilling the milk. Deep, very deep.

💜A ridiculously over the top compliment that I “look too young to drive” added a little pep to my 40 something falling apart step today!

❤️ Food served in small sizes (sliders) fills you up just the same with big flavor. Kyle Houston Brown has a gift for finding food gems! Don’t ask what kind of meat is on a Chicken Caesar slider…

🤪Fine is a word that I think I’ll drop from my vocabulary. Such a small benign word with all kinds of crazy lurking beneath the surface.

💔 We are broken, the world is broken. News is filled with stories that break our hearts – dad and daughter losing their life in search of a better life, a teacher loosing their job for loving someone.

Wherever you are, please join us – let’s set the world on fire with love!

🌎🔥❤️🌈

1/2 Day of Work, Full Day of Play

Hi I’m Hailey Allton, I am going to be a sophomore this coming school year and this is my 3rd mission trip with the GCC Youth. Today was a fun filled day, we started off our day bright and early for group pictures. Then headed off to our worksite. We did a bunch of yard work, me, Lindsay and Craig did some serious damage to a fence and some trees. We had to use some serious muscle to get the trees untangled from the wire fence. It was a lot of wire cutting, pulling wire out of roots and so much more. We also learned a bit about the organization we were working with. The lady we were working with, Ada, actually started the nonprofit organization. We learned about the broken window theory. It’s where if you have a broken window you should board it up or else people might come by and do more damage on that street. After we left the worksite we went to the DIA (detroit industry of art) and took a mini tour with Willie and learned about some real cool art. Then we went to a strip mall type thing and I got a shirt. Next we went back to the church for some downtime. Then we headed out to Green Dot who is famous for their sliders and I can’t stress this enough, they were absolutely amazing. After that we went to a tigers baseball game, and that was our end of our fun filled day! I can’t wait for the rest of our Motown Mission week!