an entertaining email
This is an email Jacob & I wrote the other day to the other volunteers in our program after they sent us emails about their trips through London, Victoria Falls and Australia. I hope you find it entertaining, it covers some stuff I'm too lazy to type out again - it's much easier to cut and paste! There are a couple of jabs at our fellow volunteers in more far-off places. For those of you who don't know, my partner Jacob is 7 feet tall - that might help you understand some of this...


June 10, 2004 4:48:59 PM
'Sup folks!
Jacob & Shannon here, relaxin' in the air conditioned computer lab in what has fast become "our" church. While many of you were visiting exotic destinations such as London, we had already:
-discovered that Subway is twice the price in Michigan than in Iowa and Missouri
-watched game 7 of the Stanley Cup final
-ate pizza and watched the Pistons game at the church on the big screen (after jerry-rigging a coathanger antenna through two vcrs to get the signal to the projector)
-while taking some kids home we drove through a neighbourhood where we learned that it's not safe to stop at cross streets
-played dodgeball in the sanctuary while listening to rap and hip hop music
-been repeatedly stuffed with food by our host family: this morning it was non-stop pancakes and sausages. Bruce (one of our hosts) is constantly concerned that "a big guy like Jacob" isn't getting enough to eat.
-had a water balloon fight with the neighbourhood kids (which ended in a bucket of water being dumped over "Pastor John's" head)
-went to potluck and bible study at Troy Oaks congregation
-Jacob is rediscovering his lego building talent with the kids and planning out the mural he's going to get the kids to paint on the church during the summer day camp
-Shannon hoping her stuffy nose is a cold that will end soon and not allergies that will last all summer
-We have scared our hosts - not realising that the phone we were using is about three feet from their heads as they sleep, or not sleep since "it's been ten years since we've had voices like that after midnight in our house!"
There are plenty of adventures ahead of us, next week we're going to Cedar Point amusment park - roller coaster capital of the USA - with some of the kids. and these are just a few snapshots after only three days of being here. Jacob's getting his birth certificate from home so we don't have to hide him in the trunk when we go up to Canada (not that we would actually do that...) to visit.
We could write forever, but that's all for now. It's time to send this email off and go back to following our calling to help build a christ-centered community here.
Blessing on your ministries too, friends, wherever you are around the world.
Love,
Jacob & Shannon
aka the G's who are down in the 'hood in D-Town
aka Grizzly Bear and Sha-nay-nay

ps if anyone needs a cheeseburger, let us know and we'll try to Fed-Ex it to you - John said he missed those when he was in the Phillippines. Or, we can just eat one for you and then email you about it.

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.

quick update
I'm late for class and can't say much.
I am in Independence having a great time in training. All the other volunteers are wonderful - what an awesome group of people to be blessed by working with. Thank you everyone for the emails of support. When I have more free time and am not in training workshops all the time like I have been this week, I will make a better post.

leaving on a jet plane...
The bags are almost packed and I'm nearly ready to go. I probably shouldn't have left my packing to the last minute, but staying up late to finish will ensure that I am good and tired for the plane ride!

I felt the need to put something new here since there will hopefully be new folks perusing this blog after my mass email about it. I am as ready to go as I'll ever be. I did do some un-packing earlier when I realised I'd packed things I probably would never wear, which is silly. It is hard to pack light when you're going away for two months.

I hope I am able to keep this relatively up-to-date over the course of the summer. The odd email from folks looking for updates will probably push me to get writing.

16 days until I leave
...and today, for the first time, I felt nervous. Sometimes I wonder about what I'm doing, I'm not sure if I really know what I'm getting myself into. On the other hand, I'm not usually someone to be afraid of new experiences, I tend to dive into things headfirst so I don't have time to think myself out of it.

This afternoon I finished the essential job of buying some summer tops to get me through the hot weather in Detroit. This morning I started working on my learning goals for the experience so I can have some clear expectations for myself, and get the most out of it. And as part of those goals, I'm contemplating using this blog as part of my journalling. I'll keep a private journal for sure, since that's the way I process things best. But if I post some stuff here, that would give all the people who want to hear about what I'm doing a chance to find out. And that way I'm not being intrusive by sending out mass emails. I think that will work well.