So last week I talked a little bit about wanting to sit on someones porch for community day. Well God is faithful and he answered my prayer! It wasn't necessarily the way I was expecting him to answer, but that is typical. Tony and I were walking around the neighborhood for the first hour and half just talking with random people; which, I love to do. Then we headed home for a drink of water, and we had decided to split up and go our separate ways for the rest of the day. As I walked around the neighborhood, I wasn't seeing very many people that is when I saw Tony and SooJi playing dominoes with some of the neighbors. So I headed over to watch the game. Not only was there the game of dominoes being played but there was another group playing spades. After watching the spades game for a few minutes they invited me in the play the next game! I was only going to play a few, but we ended up playing for a little over two hours! It was a lot of fun, and I got to know some of my neighbors a little better! I plan on going back over there this Saturday as well, and hanging out with them for a little while. Playing spades with my neighbors was a great way to end my week!
This week I had the opportunity to watch two documentaries. The first was named "The Line". It was about the poverty line. The film followed four people that had fallen below the poverty line. In case you are unaware what the poverty line is: when a family of four is living off of a little more than 23,000 a year! The first guy it followed went from making over six figures a year to living in poverty because he could not find a job. He was trying to raise two sons. The second lady it followed was out of work because of an injury that she had sustained when she fell in a subway. She was living off of disability that came to about $1500 a month and she was trying to raise three kids. The third guy it followed had lost his father at a young age causing him to drop out of school, and start working at a race track. He quit the race track and moved from New York to North Carolina where he spent some time trying to find a job. During the time he was looking he was living in a homeless shelter. He eventually found a job at a kitchen as a bus boy. With his first check he moved out of the homeless shelter into an apartment. The joy he had in the fact that he had a job and his own place was amazing and encouraging! The fourth guy was a Louisiana shrimper. His lively hood was severely affected by Hurricane Katrina and the BP oil spill. Both of these causing natural changes which made shrimp hard to catch and oysters uneatable! Later Hurricane Ivan completely destroyed the place that he docked his boat. The reason I share this is because it really touched me, and I wish everyone could have a chance to watch this film. I agree with one thing said in the film: Everyone below the line is always striving and looking to what is above the line, but those that are above the line don't ever want to fall below, and they don't even look below it because they don't want to see what is under it. (that is a paraphrase.)
The second documentary I watched this week was called "The Interrupters". The documentary was about a group called Cease Fire. They worked in the Chicago area, and they try to interrupt violence. I would highly suggest seeing this if you are over the age of eighteen. ( it is rated r, there is strong language.) It will really open your eyes to the damage of violence. There were parts that I wanted to cry looking at the memorials of kids, and then parts that made you smile. Watching someone go from a lifestyle saturated in violence to trying to be a peace maker and having a job was amazing. I learned a lot from both of these films and would encourage everyone to watch them!
Thank you for keeping my team and myself in your prayers! Much love! May grace and peace fall on you!
In Christ,
Adam
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