On faith trials

As I have mentioned before, we are renovating a house on Burns/Mack in Detroit. Let me give you a little history about this neighborhood. First, I will back up to our church. So our church is named Mack Avenue Community Church. The reason our church is named that is because Mack Ave. is a dividing line in our community. In the location of our house, it divides the rich/poor, the haves/have nots, the some white/all black, and the historic neighborhood/vs the forgotten neighborhood. There are three streets that run south of Mack to Jefferson that make up a historic district called Indian Village. The streets are Seminole, Iroquois, and Burns.

Here is a basic map:

View Larger Map


(Since the map is up- you can see where we currently live- Van Dyke/Jefferson).

The follow information ONLY applies to INDIAN VILLAGE. The surrounding areas are not the same... at all... So the closer you live to Jefferson the more expensive the home is, the more homes are occupied, less are rented, etc... Thus, the closer to Mack... less are inhabited, less they cost, more are rented, etc... Once you cross Mack Ave you are out of Indian Village- the lots are smaller and the houses turn into the desolate properties that are shown on the news.
So our church wants to bridge the gap between the historic district and the surrounding blocks. Christ called for unity- and that is not the case in our neighborhoods. The neighborhood club seeks to keep out the "riff raff" and continue to keep things segregated.

So our house is located on the SE corner of Mack/Burns. It backs up to Fischer Street (not historic neighborhood). Currently there is about a 10 foot space in the backyard that is not fenced, which allows passerbys to easily find themselves in our backyard.

David and I swore we would NEVER live in Indian Village for a few reasons. !. We didn't want to be part of the "club" that so eagerly looks to keep people out. 2. We didn't want to deal with the hassle of renovating in a historic district (lots of rules). 3. We didn't want to fix up a house, and a house that is move in ready is out of our price range.

So last September I was combing the neighborhoods in our zip code during the ONLINE TAX AUCTION for properties our church might've wanted to bid on. Well, during the second auction that starts at $500 I came across our house. I couldn't believe what I saw: a beautiful brick home with a fire place and a HUGE lot on the corner of Mack/Burns backing up to Fischer. I mentioned it to David, but was sure he wouldn't agree to live in Indian Village. Well, we had so much support from our church that it ended up being bought at the auction.... and here we are.

I cannot even begin to describe how the Lord has had His hand in this process. So many bumps (and mountains!) have come up in the road, and he continues to give us a way up, around, under, and through.

Over the past couple weeks the house has been broken into twice. Once, they stole our contractor's generator, and yesterday they clipped a bunch of wires in the basement. The electric company was coming out yesterday to do the inspection, which they were unable to do.

The first break in left me pretty unaffected. My reaction? Whatever. It's just a generator, we can buy another one. No one was hurt. It's Detroit.

Yesterday left me feeling more pissed off. This guy's really gonna tear up my basement so he can get $10 for the copper? Are you kidding me?

So David came in the door telling me to REJOICE in this because God is at work and we are obviously doing the right thing.

So the vision that we have with future housemates Kristen and Scott is to be a shining light- a refuge- in a community that has been neglected. We look forward to having lots of fun parties in the yard, lots of meals, and lots of fun. We are located one block from an elementary school- and when school lets out about 50+ kids walk right in front of our house...
The enemy can't stand the idea of us bringing in so many people and sharing the love of Christ... so I am sure we are going to bump up against some faith trials, but our longing is to continue to stand firm in our belief that God is good no matter the circumstances.
The housing renovations may be delayed to things like break- ins, but we must believe in God's sovereign timing.
I invite you to join with us in praying over our new home- pray for protection, that the renovations would be done by June 1. Pray for us and the Selles as we look to create another community house.

Here is a picture of our house (it is the red brick one) I will try to get a better one on here soon!



And here are some verses that remind me of the beauty of persevering:


3 Not only so, but we[c] also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5: 3-8

1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Hebrews 12: 1-3

2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:2-4

4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Philippians 4:4