midway through week 1 in Detroit
First of all I have to ask for prayers, this week I have been battling what is either a head cold or an unexpected allergic reaction to something in the environment here. I am hoping it's a cold that will go away soon and not allergies that will last all summer.

This has been a good week so far, busy, but good. The best part has been just hanging out with the kids who come and hang out at the church in the afternoons. During the year they were mostly working on homework, but now that school is nearly out, we get to play games and talk, which is nice. Today we played dodgeball in the sanctuary - which I'm sure would make some folks cringe, but we had a blast. We had the rap music blaring and the kids know not to throw or kick the ball too hard. Yesterday was blazing hot (if anything is going to kill me here, it will be the humidity) so we decided to go buy some water balloons and have a big water fight - which was tons of fun. It is amazing how quickly children come to trust. It is sad to know that they come from some very difficult homes and a tough neighbourhood (when we drove two of the kids home last night, John (my host) didn't stop at any cross streets because it isn't safe to stop at corners at night) and are in a system that has betrayed them. The teachers have even told them not to go to school this week because they won't be doing anything important. Many of them will have to go to summer school. I have been amazed at how small some of these kids are - a child I would have thought was around 9 or 10 is actually 14 - growth stunted as a result of poor nutrition. It is great that John has the church open for them in the afternoons - otherwise they would have no place to go but home where they would be alone since their parents have to work.

Tonight Jacob (my partner), John and I went to a congregation in the suburbs for their Wednesday night potluck and bible study. How great it is to have church family who welcomed us with open arms, not because they knew us personally but because they knew us as brothers and sisters from the Community of Christ. That is the feeling I want for these kids - to know that they have a family in Christ that will always love them, always welcome them, and always try to feed them, be that physical or spiritual food.