Fischer Street House now on NewSites.com

Sunday, 10:45pm

Details of the Fischer Street house that almost became our first project are always publicly viewable at http://newsites.com/m2m with images and one-line previews of further stories to follow.

Sincerest thanks to friends who wrote to say they are sending $100 for m2m through Calcium Community Church. The value of your encouragement cannot be overestimated. Thank you.

I also learned today that some folks aren’t finding links on this blog to write to us: there is a link to leave a comment at the top of every post. If it doesn’t work for you, please email me at family@gospelword.org and let me know what browser and version number you are using. There may be a problem with some older systems. Maybe newer ones too; we’ll have to check to be sure.

And for the person who asked for simpler, shorter descriptions of the things written about, all I can say is that it is an occupational hazard. The sort of technical writing I normally do requires the most descriptive accuracy possible. Actually, I’ve been kind of relaxing with these postings and reports. Cruising, doncha know?

Thanks again to all. Wanna start planning another trip yet?

1st m2m Trip Reports Ready

One really active ministry takes up much of a day, as for ministers involved in large church pastoral care and service. Several small ministries somehow seem to take as much or more time on occasion. Glad that I’ve only got four simple projects that currently require time and effort.

On that note, the first reports of the recent field trip to Michigan are now online at http://NewSites.com/m2m — notice the lowercase m-2-m after the slash. If you type in the address yourself and add spaces or capitalization you will void the link. Just click on the link as shown and it will work.

I need feedback on these pages quickly, folks. Let me know via email or phone (629-4800) QUICKLY if these pages, images and my work are helpful to you. I trust that there are some folks praying for our mission, and I can see the page hits increasing daily — but honestly, neither of these forms of invisible “communication” are helping me in ways that are required.

Without feedback I will assume there are just folks watching who have no real regard for this ministry. As the lead or point person on this project, I need your input. How about it?

Recent image of the Fischer Street house. It's almost too late to rescue it.

Habitat Adaptable to Our Mission

I talked just a short while ago with Kristin Hands, director of church relations for Habitat Monroe. She told me that beginning September 18 and running through January and possibly into February, the Monroe HFH center will have (or reserve) Saturdays available for church and/or other groups to come work on new projects.

For us this means that nearly any time we can get there, they’ll have something available for us to do. I still need to contact the Detroit office about their winter plans to learn more about possibilities there. These options will enable us to be of service quickly and for minimal expense. Fuel for the recent visit was a bit under $300 round trip, with a full day of traveling around the greater Detroit area with side trips to Ann Arbor, Livonia and St. Clair Shores. I estimated 16+ mpg with A/C running for about half the trip.

I also asked her about the possibility of a local church providing space for us to camp on their grounds if possible; she will look into that. The big red Am2m Dodge maxivan has immense carrying capacity and could easily sleep 2-3 people comfortably — but some of us old guys prefer plenty of rollin’ and tossin’ room. Tents make sense.

-posted by Len

Habitat+Detroit=Opportunity Abounds!

Habitat for Humanity operations in Michigan are not only building new homes, they are also rehabbing older homes — and have begun programs to help existing homeowners maintain their property as well.

That was some of the first and best news I received at the HFH Monroe location from executive director Debora Clay Wykes and church relations director Kristin Hands. I hadn’t been in Michigan more than two hours and already felt a large part of my trip had been justified. More story will be linked in the next posting.

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My Detroit “neighbor” & friend James Williams took me to see the house Am2m had almost bought on Ebay. It looked about as bad as I expected — it was a total wreck. But a few days with a broom and shovel inside, a few more days with a brush hog and chain saw outside and a bit of fair weather and I’d still give it a “go.” A sample image is shown below; links to more story & images coming in the next posting.

Overall it was a great trip, and it would have been excellent to have had a member of our group there to share it. I intend to head back ASAP if you’re interested. Opportunities are open for any number of volunteers to go, as are the number of hours or days we want to be there and what we might want to do. More info coming.

– by Len Hamilton, Am2m team leader

Scene from the Fischer Street house

In the Fischer St. house, it would have been easy to begin remodeling the kitchen. Removal of old appliances, counters, most plumbing and electrical stuff has already been done! Wish it could be said this is an isolated case; it's far too commonplace.

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Oh, yeah — did I mention Amy, Angel, Devon and the guy who stood out on the street and advertised that he would work for organic food? Stay with me awhile and I’ll tell you more next time.

(Boy, I sure hope that was enough of a teaser to get folks to follow along. Wonder if it worked?)

m2m is now am2m

The Mission to Michigan blogsite at http://ocic.wordpress.com is still operable, but future news and reports will be posted here only. Because of the size and quantity of most images that will be placed online, separate XHTML or CSS sites will be opened and linked from here to allow speedier downloads and viewing times. I really hadn’t wanted to spend much time on this facet of our ministry endeavors, but it comes with the territory. Anyhow….

Thanks for your patience. Let me hear from you per the new setups.

Coming story: New options for service with HFH.

am2m: First Report on the “D”

I’ve been back for a few days now, but am still searching for the best way to report on findings from the first trip to Detroit. Please excuse this weak and late beginning; now that I’ve begun this writing, it should improve and expand quickly.

Thanks to those who made it possible for me to travel to Michigan and see first-hand the many faces of economic catastrophe and daisy-fresh hope, each delivered in full daily. The fillers that occupy the space between those opposing concepts are what is making it difficult to know where to begin.

For now, I’ll stick to the basics — but keep in mind that these are my own opinions. Apparent proofs and other evidences will follow later.

• the “D” is down but definitely not out
• effective recovery will require including a transition to new thinking
• strong religious faiths are easily found. I felt at ease and welcomed everywhere I went
• “working together” has multiple meanings, as many of them negative as not
• cities, counties and their various departments need to improve internal/external communications
• a decent house may indeed be bought cheaply, but that’s the last consideration on many lists

We can make a difference in Detroit, and do so pretty easily and quickly. I have several ideas on effective approaches that will be presented in the next installment. There are lots of pix you really want to see as well, and they’ll be included with their descriptions.

Special thanks to my Detroit friend James Williams for his Christian encouragement, insights and assistance. God’s blessings and comfort to you and your dear wife, your children and all those wonderful gran’babies. Be well and continue to trust in Jesus. I hope to see you again soon.

For all my other friends: if only you could have been there to see for yourself. I’m going back; ya wanna ride along?