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