New Orleans Day 6

Our final day went by way too fast! It started at nine in the morning...yay. We went to a Sunday worship with lots of music and high spirits. And you will never believe ware the next Lutheran gathering will be...DETROIT!!!! Now everyone is pumped. When we left we came to the conclusion that we were all very hungry... so as all hungry people do we went to subway. We were in line for about half an hour, but it was  well worth it! We then went on a swap tour. A giant group of us got on a boat and went out. They were every ware! Alligators big, small, and extra large! They would swim right up to the boat. Then(if it could get any crazier) the tour guy unfolded a ramp and got out of the boat and fed them! He would put meat on a stick and dangle it above the water and the "gaders" would jump out of the water to get it. And if could get any stranger, Our guide got back in the boat and out of no ware pulled out a baby alligator. It was about a foot and a half long and he had its mouth taped shut. And you will never guess the best part... yup he let each of us hold it! He(or she) was very interesting to hold, his stomach was soft and his back was very hard like armor plates. He also passed around leeches (in a glass jar don't worry!) they were gross. Really gross. we headed back to eat and found a great restaurant that was a great final eating place. We all had a wonderful time and each of us has gotten closer to god and we will come home stronger and more involved people. This trip has opened up our eyes to the wonders and horrors of the world. We are truly grateful that this opportunity has came to us and we will never forget this!
-Erin

New Orleans Day 5

Today was super packed! We woke up and went straight to the convention center which is this huge space that the gathering used for all kinds of different activities. We split up into smaller groups and participated in all kinds of unique things. They put a massive wall up that weaved into a path. The wall was split into sections that represented countries. There was information on the countries, their struggles, and their history. I learned so much about things from the past and from right now. MY eyes were completely opened to what was happening in the world. Countries like Bosnia, Palestine, and West Africa were just some of the places we learned about. The wall was both sad and inspiring because, although there was much pain, there were also so many programs committed to helping people. We talked to a man named Albert who told us all about Palestine and the youth he takes there and back. I came out of the wall feeling informed and thirsting for more.

                The day’s seriousness lightened up later on… a lot. My group was on our out of the center and stopped to take pictures with wigs and all kind of props. The man running it told us that they were leaving and it would help them if we took one prop each. We left with two hot pink wigs, which the boys wore, two blue and green wigs, a lobster hat, and a jester hat. We basically wore them for the rest of the day. We took a trolley into the French quarter, which was a new experience, and then found a horse and carriage tour. The tour guide was a native New Orleaner and was in the business for thirty years. I learned so much about the French Quarter! He recommended a place to eat which we went to. A small diner called “The Clover Grill” made their burgers under a hubcap. They were delicious! We ate one of the yummiest greasiest burgers ever then almost ran to the superdome for worship. The worship was a little hard to keep my eyes open for but it got better towards the end. We went to a hotel across the street from our hotel for a concert by a band called Lost and Found. We split up because there was a dance across the hall, but I stayed at the concert. The band was hilarious and sounded great. Today was crazy and filled but I loved it.
-Jamie

New Orleans Day 4

Today was a very special day! Today was Miranda’s Sweet Sixteen! Our day was pretty chill. We got to sleep in a little later, if you consider 7:30 sleeping in. The first thing we got to do today was attend a Michigan only gathering. We spent the whole morning in a room full of Michiganders. We sang songs, had communion, and discussed our faith with our peers. We met a lot of new kids (AKA CUTE BOYS) and got closer to God. We unfortunately didn’t have time for the aquarium, but we are going to try our best to go another day (we will make it happen). After the Michigan gathering we spent a couple hours with about 150 postcards. After all the stickers, stamps, and postcards were finished our hands were dead. But we love everyone for helping us make this trip happen. Wow, did it storm today. The storm today was pretty intense. We could barely see out our windows and our phones beeped with storm alerts and flood watchings all day. After an hour or so it finally let up. We got to go out to dinner for Miranda’s birthday at the Hard Rock Café. The food was super yummy and Miranda got embarrassed a lot due to our obnoxious singing. After dinner we went to the superdome for the evening mass. The main speaker was a woman from Africa who had won the Nobel peace prize for ending a civil war in her country. The entire crowd of 33,309 people stood and swayed to the song “Hallelujah” as brilliant white balloons floated to the ceiling.  Some of us went to a dance when we returned from the dome and partied it up for Miranda’s B-day! It was an awesome day in New Orleans (as always) and we can’t wait for tomorrow!

Love Miranda and Nerissa

New Orleans Day 3

HI YALL IT’S MEG AND NAT!!! You might remember us from the spring break mission trip in which we also wrote our blog together. Oh and btdubbs Mal is kind of here too. So just to get this out of the way, our room smells…really bad because Mal has a broken ankle and her brace cast thing smells like the worst thing you have ever smelled times five. SO today we woke up at 5:30am. It was so great…just kidding….I mean it was okay but we would have rather slept longer. Then we went and sat around for like four hours. Then we did mission work by deconstructing houses (which is kind of like demolishing but better for the environment and cheaper), taking nails out of wood, handing out fliers, picking up trash, and manning the first aid table. Then we ate lunch which consisted of a sub that only had meat and cheese on it…yeah we are pretty hardcore I mean WHO NEEDS VEGGIES ANYWAY!?!!?!?!? After that we got back to the hotel and Nat and I took a nap. That may sound boring to you folks but IT WAS SO FANTASTIC! We fell asleep with like nine people in our room and slept through them leaving and then three different people knocking and a maid that tried to get into our room…actually she walked into our room saw us sleeping and then left. Then Eric woke us up and Nat yelled at him and then we went back to sleep for another hour. After that smashing adventure we went and got din-din at daisy dukes. But we ate super early to avoid crowds which didn’t work at all because we still had to wait in line to get in the restaurant. There are so many people here it’s mind blowing. Anyways after dinner we went and bought ponchos because it keeps raining like every ten seconds and we were tired of being soaking wet. Then we went to Mass gathering!!! I think that we all decided that today’s mass thing was all of our favorites. This one armed guy played the guitar for us and we heard stories from Shane and Megan and Valarie and this guy that kind of had a slam poetry thing going on. All in all everything said was very inspiring. After that we went back to the hotel. Now remember folks every time I mention going to the dome thing for mass it’s a 20 minute walk, yeah we exercise hardcore. On the walk back to the hotel I (Meg) met this guy named Tom that is my soul mate. But I’ll probs never see him again. When we got back to casa de Sharton we went to this dance thing with Moriah and Nerissa. It was toats crazy and there was a huge crowd that we kind of shoved our way into and just started jumping up and down. IT WAS SO FANTASTIC AND AMAZING AND FUUUUNNNN!!! At this dance thing me and Nat met these two guys (one of which was Jewish lawlz) who were SUPER CUTE and we hung out with them a bit. But don’t worry parents we just talked and jumped up and down together. We may one day go get coffee together and discuss religion, but don’t worry Tom, Meg will never forget you. We are some classy teens. NEWS FLASH someone brought a wash cloth out into our room and left it on the floor. Who does that? There are also clothes all over our room because we just kind of leave our clothes wherever and hang our wet stuff to dry on like the television and chairs and lamps and door handles. Boys don’t really like going into our room, except for Eric who keeps using our bathroom. That kid needs to get his own bathroom. On Saturday there is going to be a thing for donating blood and hair and Stasia is going to donate like most of her hair to lock of love. What a gem that girl is. Okay we are officially out of things to say unless it has to do with those cute boys we met at the dance and I’m sure as our parents you don’t want to hear anymore about them. GOODNIGHT MICHIGAN LOVE YA XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO! LOVE MEG AND NAT AND KIND OF MAL AND STASIA LOVES YOU TOO!!!! SENIORS 2013 <3

New Orleans Day 2

Today we went to the French Market and there were restaurants and a flea market and I got some sunglasses.  When we had walked through the flea market we headed the opposite direction and ate lunch at an outdoor café with a band and ate alligator sausage.  While we were on the way back we stopped a store that sold only salsa and several of us tried the second hottest salsa in the store called “Death by Salsa” and we didn’t try the hottest because you had to be 18 in order to try and Nathan chickened out.  Then we came back and regrouped before going to the Superdome, (where I lost my sunglasses) for the mass gathering which was way cool and the speakers were great and then it started pouring rain and we walked back to the hotel soaked from head to toe except for Laura who had a poncho.  So far the trip has been great and I’m not homesick although I do wish my mom was here.
- Nick

New Orleans Day One!

Today has been the longest day in the history of the universe. For me it started at 4:30 with a trip to the donut cutter, then a spice girl filled bus ride to the airport, a short little plane ride and an introduction to the amazing city of New Orleans (or as people here tend to refer to it, Nawleans). Every part of the day has been perfect. Our hotel is gorgeous. The elevators are extremely fancy, with little keypads that tell you which elevator is coming to pick you up. I think that’s my favorite part. After we looked around the hotel, we went to explore the city, and check into the national gathering. While waiting for the advisors to check us in, we started a little game. We asked every group that walked by us what state they were from, and the results were interesting! Surprisingly enough, Minnesota and California were the states that had the most groups out of those that passed us. Next we looked for somewhere to eat! With so many hungry teens here, it was rough finding a place to eat that could seat all 16 of us. Finally after a little walking and determination, we found a delicious little restaurant. The food here is incredible. It’s probably my favorite part of the city so far. I’ve been here less than one day, and already I’ve tried seafood gumbo, alligator balls, shrimp creole, fried oysters, and famous garlic fries. YUM! I think food is something we’ll be looking forward to all week. The day ended with a trip to this little place called Preservation Hall, where they play the best jazz music ever! The room was seriously crowded and hotter than the air outside. Every single space was filled with people, and music. The trumpet player/lead singer had an astonishing voice that was so sweet, I was sad to leave. The piano player was inspirational. The trombone player taught me the possibilities of what a trombone could actually sound like, which I really didn’t know until tonight. The saxophone was so smooth. Finally, the drummer and bass player had personality unparalleled by anyone I’ve ever seen perform. The last last thing we experienced before we reached the hotel for the night was Bourbon Street, which was pretty interesting. Let’s just say all kinds of people roam that street at night! Back at the hotel we’re experiencing a stuck elevator, but luckily all of S.T.A.G.E. is safe and sound in our hotel rooms. The first day has been incredible and full of new experiences! New Orleans is so fun! None of us ever want to leave! I can’t wait to see what we’ll be doing at the Gathering tomorrow. 

-Moriah

P.S. CONGRATS TO MIRANDA AND NICK ON A SUCESSFUL FIRST FLIGHT!!!

NEW ORLEANS HERE WE COME!

The STAGE youth will be flying out of Detroit around 7:30a on Tues for the National Gathering in New Orleans!

Its going to hot and humid, maybe even a bit stormy, but nothings going to stop us from living out an awesome week  of growing as a group and growing in our faith.

Keep us in your prayers and stay posted for more stories from the youth throughout the week.

MUCH LOVE,
Mallory Bennett, Miranda Hunt, Eric McChesney, Moriah Moore, Anastasia Rogers, Megan Seamens, Erin Schindler, PJ Schindler, Natalie Snay, Jamie Stafford,

Nick Young,Nerissa Zoller, Nathan Schleicher, Diane Marshell, Mike & Laura Galat

Hey y'all!! Its the end of the week and we are all super sad its over. The week went by so fast!! This entire week we have been cleaning up the park and working really hard to make it a place that the whole community can enjoy. Today we had the chance to enjoy and appreciate how all our hard work payed off by playing a softball game with the local girl's high school team (Cody High) and playing games in the park! When we got back to the church we committed some "evandalism", meaning evangelistic vandalism. We thanked the church for hosting us by putting uplifting appreciative messages in Easter eggs with a Hershey kiss, and hiding them around the church for members to find Sunday morning. Our last meetings with everyone in Motown Missions helped us reflect on what we are taking away from this week. We all really connected with the city of Detroit this week and we all want to come back to enjoy it and continue making improvements. We all feel a sense of Detroit pride now and our perspectives have changed greatly from the beginning of this week. Not only do we feel closer to the city but we also feel closer as a group. We will never forget the experiences we had on this trip and we cant wait for next year!! WE LOVE MOTOWN MISSION!!
Love, Taylor and Rachel <3

Hey Y'all!!! This is Meg and Nat straight from DETROIT! Today was our last official working day! Today our small group finished cleaning up this little playground area. We used paint to cover up all the graffiti and fixed a swing...kind of. OH and we picked up MORE glass. Nat decided that it's just in the air and that's where it keeps coming from. We also used chalk to write good messages on some black turf in the park. We wrote things like God loves you, Detroit Pride, and born and raised in south Detroit. Then the big discovery happened. Meg wanted a picture of all the chalk writing and all our other group members laid on the turf to be in the picture and guess what...THE TURF IS SUPER WARM!!! So of course we just had top name it Turf Beach, and it's basically the hippest spot in town.  When we went to tell everyone else and they thought we were all crazy, until they tried it for themselves.  After playing and cleaning on the playground we were painting and picking up trash.  Today we found the third diaper of the week, we left that one for someone else to pick up!  At lunch we invited an older gentlemen to eat lunch with us in "big nasty" aka Moriah's van.  Randy had shown up and began helping us, and although he is older he went hard on weeds and branches stuck in the fence.  He told us about how he had volunteered with other groups before and how he couldn't come help us tomorrow because he is helping set up for good Friday at his church.  He is such an inspiration!

Dinner tonight was interesting... Megan had to leave for work, and she was lucky.  Just kidding it wasn't that bad.  Carl aka Mr. Weasely made a chicken rice and cheese combo, sounds good right? No.  He accidentally put in like 10x more pepper then he should have, it was spicy.  But Carl made up for the hot casserole with the juice he made.  Unfortunately, he couldn't tell us what was in it because he forgot what he added.  Sketchy.  It tastes like orange juice and maybe some raspberry juice too.  

Finally for our evening event we went to a poetry slam.  I would never go to one on my own but I loved it so much.  Everyone who read was so talented and passionate in their poems. While everyone was listening to these masterpieces Meg was struggling to find the little coffee shop. Eventually Nathan walked into the street to direct her and her dad, don't worry she made it safe and sound back from work ;).  Anyway, before the slam started STAGE quickly wrote a poem so we could be a part of the slam.  I think Nathan's posting the poem or the video or something for you to see!  We just started with one word, Detroit, and then everyone was able to add in their thoughts and feelings about the city. OH AND WE LOVE FROZEN CHOCOLATE MILK!!!!

Ok parents, friends, and avid STAGE fans, that is all we have to say. I hope you enjoyed our rambling, we sure did! XOXOXOXOXOXO MEG AND NAT!!! XD-

---- (thursday part 2) ----

Today was our final work day. This seems pretty unbelievable to all of us because this week feels as if it's never ending. every day felt like it's very own week! But even though the days felt incredibly long, we all worked with such intensity and pride that as we look back on the week it seems to have flown by. Sometimes we forget how close to home we were. At times I would catch myself thinking I was in some other big city like Chicago or in another one of those churches that is so old and beautiful that I feel as if I've gone back in time. But then I truly open my eyes and see my home city. I was actually born right here in Detroit but that fact has, to be honest, always brought embarrassment to me. I think it's just because most of my friends were born in the cheerful suburbs while I was born in a city that is forgotten and looked down on. But as the week has gone by and our work project has come to a close, my embarrassment has turned to a pride that I never imagined could exist. I find myself wishing I could fix the entire city. All I want to do is restore it to the glory it once knew. But when I come down from my fantasy world I realize I can't do everything on my own, no matter how much I want to accomplish everything. I need help, just like Detroit. At the work sites every single person person found a way to be helpful. The group from Illinois would come hold the ladders for us as we climbed to the top a fence to pull a vine or paint a fence. We would follow them around with trash bags as they picked up garbage that was scattered around the park. We would also share little tips on how to stay warm, for example laying on turf beaches in the park, and teaching word games to keep our minds off of how the chill of the wind would slap on our cheeks as it blew and cause our faces to burn. This trip has been such an amazing experience. I will admit that I say that about every mission trip, but it's always the truth. Every week we grow closer and closer to each other. We find new inside jokes, make new memories, and most importantly we change people's lives. Even though we may not see every person our work effects, somewhere deep in my heart I know what we're doing is making a difference. I hope it will eventually bring such a positive change that it will spread until it reaches everyone  in the city some way and somehow.

-Miranda

Today was the best day of the week so far! It started with our work projects being awesome. Some of us went and cleaned up a park, others painted a backstop for peewee baseball, some people finished up the basketball court we’ve been working on, and the rest of us painted the highest parts of the backstop on a baseball field. That was my favorite part since I was on the highest part crew, meaning I got to use the cherry picker along with Jamie, Nathan, and Stasia. It was super scary at first, and it felt like at any moment we’d take a spill! But eventually we got the hang of it, and were maneuvering it like professionals. The park is coming along so well it’s unbelievable. It seems unreal how much we’ve done in three days, and we all can see that it is already starting to have effects on the people in the community, like having people offer to come and help us in the next few days. It’s a way more rewarding project than I thought it would be when we started. This evening we went to a church called 2^nd Ebenezer, which was one of the coolest worship services I’ve seen in a long time. Actually, it was supposedly a bible study, but it had to be the most rockin bible study I’ve ever seen. People stood up while the bishop spoke, an “Amen” was given almost every other sentence, and the songs made me feel like I was at a concert. The people were so into everything we did! I don’t know if I’ve ever seen so much passion in praising God in my entire life. It was pretty inspiring. Finally, we ended the day with a surprise celebration of Connie’s 15^th birthday. It was the best day ever.

-Moriah

Cold, wet and raining Yuck!

But just another work day at Motown Missions despite the fact that the sun was dead set on not shining we were still out there and by the end of the day we had a decent amount of work done. The fences were completely void of any vines or trees, one of the baseball diamonds had being cleared of grass, and we began the prep for clearing away the pile of tree trunks and plant matter currently sitting 2 feet from the entrance to the basketball court. Even though half the work day was spent in a car thanking God for heaters we still managed to see God in what we did and to have, if not a good, then a decent time.  

We ended work early (at around one) and we all then when back to Metropolitan and took long, warm showers and felt extremely good. After a short nap time the weather appeared to be clearing up so we decided to explore the city. We visited a small record shop called ‘People’s Records’ then a hat shop called ‘Henry the Hatter’ then pre-dinner at Lafayette Coney Island. Then back to Church for our real dinner. Then the most fun was had in Mexican Town we found a really cheap amazing Bakery and loaded up of churros and tarts and donuts and other amazing things. We then proceeded to eat said goodies on a bridge over the freeway. We shared milk and churros with passer-bys and a good time was had by all!

- Connie Huseltine

We arrive at the worksite. Flash forward ten minutes- torrential downpour. Soaked to the bone, we continued none the less, finally working the last of the branches off the main fence on the basketball court. We started off raking the edges of the baseball field to remove the pulled up grass and dirt so they could finish leveling it off. Mid way through that, the rain started, soaking everyone. Most of us wouldn’t dry for another 3 hours. Finishing that, we made our way to the basketball court. At least the rain washed away most off the dirt. Too bad it couldn’t do the same for the vine, situated as they were on the upper most part of the fence, accessible only by ladder. Working in pairs, the majority of people got them down. Slowly/. A small group worked off to one side repairing a fence section. Me, I was working with a few others demolishing the massive pile of tree trunks and branches and assorted vines we had taken down the day before to get them to dumpster sized chunks. It took some time, but we managed to actually split the pile in half completely, making a nice neat path through the mess and tangle of the vines.  Fast forward to lunch break- everyone sitting in the cars. Shortly after that we realized the van had died. Cue the jumper cables. After a quick trip to a building with a bathroom, we were ready to restart, just as the skies decided to open once again. We finished in the rain, then took a much anticipated return trip to the church to shower and rest. Hot water never felt so good. After everyone could feel their appendages once again, we set out to test the competitors to yesterdays American Coney Island- its next door neighbor Lafayette Coney Island. That was pre-dinner. After dinner, and a quick meeting, we set out for post-dinner. Mexicantown was our destination, and sweet, dried unhealthy desserts were our goal. In a word- churros. After making the selection and purchasing them, we headed outside and realized there was a pedestrian bridge crossing nearby I-75. Where better to eat then in the middle of a bridge over a freeway overpass?  Sugar hitting the bloodstream, we returned to the church just in time for devos and bed. In short, an eventful day, a state  all of this week seems to be headed.

   - Carolyn Dimitry

 

               This morning started with all of us getting a little closer and ended with us being inseparable.  We pushed the tables that we eat on together and I felt a little more like one big family. We went to a park where we will be working all week. We found a large, cracked basketball court with no hoops, broken dugouts, and a weed-filled baseball diamond.  I started out cutting vines out of a fence which led me to my personal theme of the day! The vines and branches were so entwined in the fence; I couldn’t help but feel a longing for the life I was prying from the rusted chains. The director of Motown Mission, Carl, pointed out how amazing it was that the branches found a way to grow. The vines found a way to live in something sad and ugly. But later, Carl said that in order to make something better it has to get a little bit worse.  I started connecting this to everything I did. Detroit was something that everyone is trying to fix but I feel like everyone is getting discouraged by the shape it’s in now. But maybe it’s okay that it gets worse, maybe that means that it will get better soon.

                  By the end of the day, we were covered in silver paint from head to toe. We were painting a fence and Stasia just got really excited and splattered paint everywhere.  We used some product to get it off and our faces started to sting. A bunch of us were worried that our skin was going to fall off, but then we realized that we were sunburned. I feel so close to my painting group today! I never think that it’s possible to get any closer to STAGE, but it happened again.

Jamie Stafford!

Same Day As Jamie……

So today was just completely and utterly redic (that’s the hip lingo for ridiculous)!!!!! Not only does it feel like Friday and the end of the mission trip, but we got FILTHY!!!! Well…I got filthy. I was in the group that painted this fence and I don’t know, I guess I’m just a really aggressive painter. I somehow managed to get so much paint on me that people would automatically call me the Tin Man (it was this really awesome metallic silver paint) Now all of this wouldn’t really bother me if I didn’t have to go around Detroit after without washing it off!!! was just sitting in the front seat of the car and this guy walks past us, does a double take, starts laughing, and then keeps walking down the street while continuing to look back and laugh. That was just one of many instances because Nathan decided it would be a great idea to WALK OUTSIDE to get to a CVS!!!! Who does that?!  Well I guess I made a whole lot of people’s day on Woodward… The worst part though was taking it off. For one, IT HURT SO BAD! And then I find out that I actually have really bad sunburns on my face and arms but the sunburns on my arms are SPECKLED because of the paint! I look like I’m diseased!!! Lets just say I’m going ham on the whole covering up thing tomorrow!!!

-Anastasia Rogers

First day of Spring break mission trip 2012! So today was a pretty relaxing day,  at least as far as mission trips go. We began the day by settling into the Metropolitan Methodist Church in Detroit. This is the biggest church I have ever been in! There are eight stories (if you include the towers), and every hallway/staircase looks identical. The likelihood that one of us is gets lost this week seems high. Not to mention the floors of the beautiful hallways are covered in Pewabic tiles, which today would be valued at approximately $70 per decorated tile! Other than a tour of the building, we met our leader for the week, Carl, who just returned from two weeks in Kenya. He seems like a pretty cool guy. We also met the other group doing mission work with us from Illinois, who we can't wait to know better. At check in we talked about what this week meant to us, what we wanted to accomplish, and what we knew about Detroit. Here are some of me and Miranda's thoughts: We realized that as close as we live, there are very few things we know about Detroit. We know the sporting events, the music, a little bit of the history, and some food, but we know little about the people. We know all the stereotypes in the book, but we have no idea what's really true about Detroit. This week, we're excited to put aside stereotypes and get to know the city that is so close to home. In doing this, we hope to help the city and the people here in as many ways as possible. Tomorrow, we look forward to painting! We'll give you more details about that when we know them!
-Moriah and Miranda