Acts 29 City Cleanup

Today I went with my church youth groups to Hamtramck for a city-wide clean up. My pastor and I jammed to Switchfoot in the car on the way there..a very memorable moment. This was my first time going because my mom was always really iffy about me going to a not-so-good neighborhood.

Most of the day was spent picking up trash aligned throughout the alleys and streets and pulling out massive weeds growing everywhere. We had some interesting finds, such as an elegant gold picture frame, which we decided to clean and keep to hang up in the church, and some bullet shells my pastor let me keep. In the process, we also found a ton of broken glass, beer bottles, other nasty items, and even heroine syringes. The area is full of heroine users and we actually met one. His name was Frankie and was actually on the way to shoot up some heroine when he saw us cleaning up the alley. We prayed for him as a group, hoping that God would cleanse him and keep him safe, and it was a beautiful thing. You could really tell that he was suffering and I hope the best for him now.

This experience made me realize how fortunate I am to live in a city that is clean and safe. As we walked through the streets full of trash and broken down buildings, I could not imagine what it would be like to live there. However, it was wonderful to see the people coming out of their homes to watch us and thank us for our work. I got to talk to some younger kids and it's so unfortunate that these bright faces must grow up in such a poor neighborhood.

I met little Lila, a worker at Acts 29's daughter. She was about 18 months old and absolutely adorable with the prettiest eyes. She held my finger as we walked and my heart melted haha. I regret not bringing my camera!

This was taken on my cell phone by my friend Julia next to one of the alleys we cleaned up. What's ironic is that the wall had "Rachael" spray painted on it, and although it's not the same spelling as my name, it's still Rachel! I stood in that certain spot to cover up the "A" so it would be the way I spell my name!