current ministries.
BIG A
A Little History:
Big A was founded in Detroit by the Southern Baptist Convention with a mission to disciple students in "A right relationship with Jesus Christ". The mission, and the name, have never changed. Our relationship with "Big A" started about 15 years ago when we began partnering with Reverend Bishop at the H.O.P.E. Baptist Center located next to Cass Park. Under Rev. Bishop, Big A had a huge outreach to a nearby neighborhood called the Jeffries' Housing Project. Every day in the summer, we would walk through Cass Park, across Third Avenue and pick up students for our Vacation Bible School. Through this time, we got to know Rev. Bishop and a ton of neighborhood families. Rev. Bishop graciously took the time to teach us about ministry in the city and great ways to mentor and disciple our students.
Eventually, the Jeffries' Housing project was torn down and replaced with a neighborhood called, Cornerstone. Our students were scattered, with a large portion of them dispersed between three new neighborhoods: The Diggs Homes, McDonald Square, and Brewster Homes. We were firmly convinced that God still wanted us to love on our kids, so we began picking up our students with whatever transportation we had available and bringing them to the H.O.P.E. Baptist Center. Unfortunately, we were faced with another challenge when the H.O.P.E. Baptist Center closed its doors. However, undaunted, we were firmly convinced that God still wanted us to invest in and love on our kids, so we began a partnership with People's Missionary Baptist Church (thanks to a connection from Rev. Bishop). Big A now meets at People's Missionary Baptist Church where they graciously allow 80-130 students into their gym to laugh, play, and best of all, hear the Gospel.
How Groups Are Involved:
During the summer, our visiting teams pick up students from their homes and bring them to Big A. It is not a small task to pick up and drop off over 100 kids using whatever vehicles groups bring, but somehow God always works it out. Because pick up generally takes an hour, some of our volunteer team oversees what we lovingly call "chaos time"...a time when our kids play a variety of games in the gym (basketball, jump rope, 4 square and whatever other creative games groups bring) as they wait for everyone to arrive. Once everyone arrives at Big A, we have a large group time where we pray, review the rules and sing a few songs (led by our visiting teams). After songs, students are divided into groups based on age (preschool, 5-9. 10-14 and 15 and up) and are led by the volunteer groups through 3 stations (story, games, craft and snack). The stations are approximately 15 minutes each. After the station rotation is complete, we gather back together as a large group for a calm closing song and ending prayer. We then begin the task of taking students back home. Again, a group of our volunteers oversees "chaos time" and works to make sure we have the building clean and ready for the special needs ministry that will use it the next morning.
CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS
PARTNERING WITH THE COMMUNITY
A Little History:
We firmly agree with Lupton's assertion that our efforts should bring strength to our community, rather than breed dependence. As we work to deepen relationships and serve our neighbors we want to be mindful of investing well in our community. One way that we do this is to partner with our local churches to identify work-type projects that will not only help build the community, but also continue to build relationships. We desire to be a long-term blessing in our neighborhood and to be wise in this work.
How Groups Are Involved:
Groups may have the opportunity to be involved in a variety of different work projects in the community, including, but not limited to: yard work, minor home repairs, and painting. While most of the work just requires participants who are willing to work, if your group has any special construction skills, please let us know in advance so we can make the most of your skills and talents.
WORKING AT OUR CENTER
A Little History:
In 2012, God blessed Detroit Love with a permanent home. The 36,000 square foot Dom Polski building is a former Polish community center. We love our new home and the fact that we get to see in this building God's heart for restoration. It is a visible reminder of God's desire to restore His children through Christ. We are excited to continue renovating the building so that we can one day host Big A and other year round ministries for local families!
How Groups are Involved:
Many groups have already worked to complete the demolition needed for the first phase of the building restoration. Groups have built bunk beds, repaired electric, and constructed bathrooms. Future groups may have the opportunity to continue the rebuilding phase or start phase two of demolition. Right now have rooms stripped to the studs and ready to be rebuilt. We are so grateful for the groups that have partnered with us and will partner with us in the future.
NEIGHBORHOOD PRAYER WALKS
A Little History:
We believe that prayer is the most important part of our ministry day. From our very first trip, prayer walks have been on the daily schedule (thank you Adventures in Missions for modeling this so well!). We have a heart to pray over every street in our neighborhood as much as possible.
How Groups Are Involved:
Your group will have the opportunity to walk around our neighborhood with one of our interns and pray over our community. This involves praying over streets and houses, and sometimes even our neighbors. We understand this may be a daunting prospect for some people, but we strongly believe that God calls us to be a people of prayer. We are constantly surprised by how God shows up when we seek Him in prayer.
A Little History:
The DRM works to provide hope to the hopeless, abused, and disadvantaged of our community. They have a variety of sites all over Detroit where they provide rehabilitation, shelter, and transitional housing services for the community. From our first trip tin Detroit, we have been blessed with the opportunity to serve dinner at the Third Street shelter. Over the years we have developed friendships that have so blessed and enriched our lives. We are thankful for the opportunity to partner with the DRM.
How Groups Are Involved:
Groups may have the opportunity to partner with the DRM in a variety of ways. Volunteers may spend time tending to the Urban Garden, renovating housing, organizing and cleaning ministry centers, or serving lunch or dinner at one of the shelters. When serving meals, participants need to wear long pants and closed toed shoes.