Philly GPA – Stayin’ Alive

Monday: Our “Hot Topic” debate on the existence of God.

Tuesday: Cooking with Kevin.He showed us how to make pizza, focaccia, pasta, and pie crust. Not everything turned out perfect, but everything was delicious ~

Wednesday: Mike invited us to a night of free bowling because he works at Lucky Strike. It was nice to have time to bond as a group.

Thursday: Half the group painted the Sunday school shelf. Even though it lives in the basement and no one sees it except for the younger kids once a week, we’re hoping that even a small change can help the kids start to take ownership.

The other half of us researched some educational material and prepared a few lessons.

Even though our investment sometimes seems a little scattered, I think everyone’s grateful for the chance to transition from GPA to real life by supporting this community and each other. For me, being surrounded, encouraged, or even called out by all these kids who care helps me so much to push myself, and reminds me that what we’re working for is worth the effort.

Philly – We’re Not Dead May 1, 2014

Philly community really wants to emphasize bringing our passions into outreach. So they have “small

group” activities that we’ve been helping out with.

Saturday night (the 19th) was their monthly open mic night, run by Sun-Je Pearlman. Sail the Boat came from New Jersey, and there were also local guests. It was a big success; we were able to meet some new people, and they were really glad to be in a place they could openly express themselves.

Sunday morning, we attended a talk by Gerry Servito. It was the third and last he gave in a series, on Principle of Creation, Fall, and Restoration

Our group has decided to focus on inreach, at least for now, strengthening the church from the inside out to make it a community that people will want to join.

Throughout the week, we had different talks from different local members. We learned about ministry, bookkeeping, some life and cooking skills, communication, public speaking, and team building.

So together, we organized a workshop for the youth group, from Friday night to Sunday morning, which included a special banquet night for them to serve their parents. Our theme was “Return the Love”, so that the kids could give back to their parents, and so we could give back to our older brothers and sisters who guided us when we were their ages. The dinner ended up being a little clunky and awkward, but the community seemed really happy and a inspired, and the kids had a great experience and were happy to spend time together.

On Wednesday, the Philadelphia Museum of Art had a free night, so we packed the vans and headed over to get to know the city.

On Friday afternoon before the workshop, we also had the opportunity to visit a synagogue downtown, called Rodeph Shalom. They practice a branch of Judaism called Reform Judaism, and adapt their external approach to be more modern without sacrificing their tradition and morals.

Right after that, we went to a Pentecostal church in the heart of the ghetto. It was the exact opposite of the huge, illustrious synagogue. There were multiple gunshot holes in the windows, the neighborhood was broken down. The bishop gave a testimony on how he wanted a church of healing and that he preached love and healing, rather than religious dogma. We made a plan to come back next week to help pass out food in the neighborhood.