Playing in the Park

I just realized today that I hadn't posted in quite awhile. I knew I wasn't going to be good at this whole blog thing.

Anyway, things here in Fond du Lac having been going pretty well yet. One of the things I have been working on is getting started is a weekly recreation time for youth at a park here in town. There is an area of town called the Hamilton Neighborhood which is considered the rougher part of town. There is a fair amount of drug activity and violence. Hamilton Park is located near this neighborhood so we chose this park for our weekly rec time, trying to positively influence the neighborhood. Well, a week before we started our rec time, there was a drive-by shooting. There were 8 shots fired, but nobody was hurt. Our first rec time at Hamilton Park was the week after this, and nobody showed up. I have a feeling that parents don't want to let their kids go out and play knowing that it is a dangerous area.
Last night was our second week of doing the rec time in the park. Becca and I went door-to-door throughout the neighborhood inviting kids to come and play. We waited in the park and prayed that God would send some kids and pretty soon 7 kids came! We had a great time playing soccer, basketball and frisbee. Hopefully throughout the summer, more and more kids will come and they will trust that this is a safe place to come and have fun.

A couple prayer requests:
This Saturday is our first neighborhood block party. We are grilling brats and hot dogs at a local elementary school playground and we hope that many people in the community will come out to it.
Our church is looking for a new building to worship in. Currently, The Garden is renting a place just on Sunday mornings, but would like to be in their own building for their grand opening in September.