Seed Spittin' Summer

Art Day

Today marked the begining of a summer full of arts and crafts for the kids at Huntington Creek. Our newest volunteer, Mrs. Jeanne, from Mt. Zion Baptist Church, will be coming every Thursay with her art tub and brain full of creative ideas.

The kids got to make paintings inside salad spinners and create whirly designs on paper rotating on a record player. They learned today that God is a creative God, and when we create, we reflect his character.

(Thanks to Adam Fites - your comment on the "Art Gene" post inspired this lesson)

Church House Rock!

On Monday, I met with Brian and Mike from New Covenant Community Church. Like many congregations in this community, they've seen massive changes. Unlike many congregations in the community, they're still alive and are coming up with some powerful, innovative ways to bridge cultural gaps.

One of these ways is the arts. Needless to say, it was thrilling for me. While discussing our ministries, we talked about Borges, Dostoyevsky, Tom Waits, and the Handsome Family. Mike, the pastor, prayed very powerfully for our ministry, and Brian invited me to write a song to be played in church.

Those who have read or heard my lyrics will probably agree that church music is not my niche. However, I have a policy of embracing creative opportunities, and it is a chance to dive in to this community, and I have been thinking about the economics of the kingdom a great deal lately, so I said yes.

I've posted a rough draft over on my North Papers blog. I'm not the best self-editor, but I want to bring them something meaningful and well-thought-out. That, my dear readers, is where you come in. Check it out and let me know what you think.

Six Flags Bonanza

Most theme parks have the same theme, and it's, "Wait in line, fatty!" - Demetri Martin

My sister Lisa, my friend Aziz, Ruthie and I all went to Six Flags today. I'm not a fan of most theme parks, but the lack of lines and the abundance of roller coasters made for good times. After a few rides, Aziz and Ruthie decided to sit down and rest while Lisa and I clambered aboard Goliath, a massive roller coaster.

If you look closely at the picture below, toward the tail end of the train, you can observe me in an excited state.

Bayo Interview Clip 1

I've been interviewing Nigerian missionary Bayo Otiti for two months now, and I decided to start bringing my camera. The following is one of several clips of Bayo telling his story. I'll post more as I put them together.

Candy Crazed Samurai

Highlights of today:

• Locust Grove: Despite the town's wierd name, which evokes images of devastated farmers or plagued Egyptians, I usually have a good time down there. I spent the morning watching anime, listening to music, and talking about "eschatological angst" with my friend Adam. It's a fitting name for my battle with depression, because I've been promised comfort in the beatitudes, but I'm living in a broken body in a broken world. Plenty of reasons to feel down.
• Happy Birthday, Leslie: Leslie, who lives in the apartment next to us and goes to our program, had her seventh birthday today. 15 minutes before the event, when we learned we were invited, we ran out to Wal-Mart and got her a disney princess keyboard. It turned out to be fun, if a little uncomfortable because of language barriers. Leslie is a little angel until you give her a stick and sick her on a pinata. Holy Smokes. We had to leave the party a little early to get to....
• Creature from the Black Lagoon...IN THE THIRD DIMENSION: Awesome. I have never been to a 3D movie before. The technology is really dated, but it's incredible to experience. It gives you a monster headache (notice the dazzling wordplay at work), but it's worth the pain to see the way the creature jumps out of the screen. Which leads me to a point I want to make about idiots at these events, particularly the ones behind me who thought their commentary was funny. They need to keep it down.

Okay, well, we got plenty of pictures and video, which would take forever to load, and it's 1:01 in the morning, and I need to stay awake in church tomorrow. Maybe we'll post them later. Goodnight, my dear readers.

Dance Dance Yeah!

The kids enjoyed some music during Refugee Beads class this week and started to boogie. Below are clips of some of their greatest moves: