Detroit Update Number Two
Hi from up here in the mitten, south of the thumb in michigan. D-town and such. First we would like to report to everyone, no need for bullet proof vests yet, and we have not dodged any bullets. John, Shannon and I have made some great improvements, and we actually have already made an impact up here. There was going to be some grants that are not available now, and instead of going ahead with an underfunded secular peace camp we met with Jerry Van Rossom and talked to him about this idea we came up with on June 15th for a vacation bible school for three age groups 1st through 5th grade the first week, 6th through 8th grade the third week and senior high inbetween. this will be good because it will be a springboard for john starting his church in the fall. The Wednesday we had this idea, came after great loss and worry. We had to tell the community of kids around the area that their church, and pastor john and world service corp volunteers would be used by someone else all summer, I have never seen such sad faces. So when we had this change in plans for the good of the plant, and everything john has worked for, we ran into some of the kids from the neighborhood and the news spread quickly. Also our bible school won't be all day, so it gives us the opportunity to do ministry in the afternoons and evenings, and maintain pizza church, with our staple food: little cesars ready mades. $5.00 for a large, always pepperoni or cheese. Seemingly the cheapest food in michigan by our estimation. Also, as a retraction from our last email, if we offended anyone with the cheeseburger fed-ex joke, we appologize for that. and Janette, we would love to hear from you. We were a little concerned when we didn't hear from you. Also it would be nice if we heard from Johnny C and Jac as we assume that the african in country training was a success. We hope you are all doing well, and we hope the blessings are bountiful wherever you are in the world.

Peaceful ones in Detroit,
Shannon and Jacob

Go Pistons, No Riots, and a Title. They Beat L.A.

p.s. we are helping with a young adult reunion at bluewater our last week here, so if you have any friends in michigan, or within driving distance, it is $70 dollars, and it sounds like a blast, during the week of spec. anyway, just a shameless plug, For Doyle Rice. Peace to you all.

Detroit Number One Update
'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 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.