Laura and I are finally moved into our apartment! We are now in the process of unpacking ,organizing and reorganizing and reorganizing. Within the first few days of living on the North Side we had a few very interesting observations: Trash trucks sometimes operate very loudly at 3:00 in the morning, one way streets are merely suggested, and people (for the most part) on the North Side stop and say, "Hi." The last observation interests me quite a bit. Already Laura and I have interacted more with our neighbors in our building than we did our entire time at our previous apartment. Lola, a little old black lady on the floor below us, showed us how to correctly carry a desk up the stairs, Fransisco, the nice Hispanic man who lives above us, has a bad back, and the lady who lives beside us stopped us when we were moving in and apologized for her boyfriends music. It's pretty amazing to think that even though we have moved into a high crime area with boarded up buildings all around that people on the North Side are more interested in saying "Hi" then the "nice family" borough of Pittsburgh. Another perk of living on the North Side, I now live close enough to walk to Urban Impact. In the short ten minute walk I get to pass by several different bus stops and corners where people congregate. At each of these places it's nice to stop and visit; I hope to be able to use even these short moments to build relationships.
At Urban Impact things are shaping up really well for the fall. The choir continues to grow and the Performing Arts Academy, which I am now in charge of administrating, has more students pre-registered than ever before and we still have a month left. The day after we hung posters around the North Side a mother came into our office and started crying. She had seen a poster in the local barber shop and wanted to get her kids involved but couldn't pick them up after class. At this time Meghan, our dance instructor, simply said she could take her children home after class and the mother broke down in tears and made Meghan give her a hug. The Performing Arts Academy starts October 1st.
Prayer Requests:- For volunteers for the PAA
- Final planning for the PAA
- Nate, Shiniqua, Shiquala, Breann, Valarie and Alicia as they start college and associates school
- As we look for a new staff member to fill in for Principal Rick
- To finish strong with support raising
Thank you all for your prayers and come and visit anytime in Pittsburgh.
"North side neighbors"? Is this a post about Canadians?
ReplyDeleteSo glad that you and Laura are finally moved in. Isn't it amazing to find that you have genuine people living all around you. No false pretense, no facades!
ReplyDeleteGod has placed you exactly where He wants you...two surrendered hearts ready to shine the light of Jesus in a dark neighborhood. Lots of blank pages to write many new stories.
1 Thessalonians 1:2,3 We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers. We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.