Our new partner, Directions for Youth and Families (DFYF), just moved into our lower-level after-school space.  We are excited to have them here. 

This partnership is forming out of necessity and urgency in the past two weeks.  DFYF is in the process of buying the old PAL (Police Athletic League) building on Ohio, just south of I-70, after leasing it from the city for the past several years.  They’re undergoing a major renovation, that began April 19.  They thought they had a temporary site secured, but at the last moment, discovered that wasn’t the case.  So Steve and John, the Executive Director and Operations Manager, came to us.  Of course, we are thrilled to have them with us for 6-8 months (or however long the construction lasts).

DFYF brings a lot to our congregation and community.  They run an after-school program Monday through Friday from 3pm – 7:30pm.  This includes homework help, exercise programs, arts and crafts and music education.  (Sam is an incredible keyboard instructor.)  This summer, once school is out, they’ll switch to their summer schedule.  It will be Monday – Friday, 9-3.  DFYF also brings up to 40 children, K-12.  We look to meeting the kids as well as connecting with their families.  This is a great opportunity as well as ministry for us all.   

Wow!  Another exciting day at First English!  For the 2^nd year, we are excited to be part of the National Earth Day Celebration.  Here at First English, we have a strong commitment to faithful stewardship of God’s creation.  We just finished a Care of Creation sermon series in Lent titled, “Creation Waits With Eager Longing.”  Somebody’s been listening because last Saturday, I saw a lot of faith in action. 

As part of the Earth Day Celebration, First English hosted a neighborhood clean-up.  Our neighbors joined us, including OTENA members and South of Main neighbors as well as several volunteers from our partnering congregations.  The Lord of Life Youth Group, from Worthington represented en masse.  We even had a couple from Whitehall read about our clean-up in the Other Paper and joined us.  In all, we had over 60 volunteers.  We covered E. Main St. from 18^th to Wilson including the adjacent blocks.  The day began with at 9am with a continental breakfast, introductions and orientation.  We distributed tools provided by Keep Columbus Beautiful that included gloves, grabbers, safety vests and plenty of trash bags.  Team Captains selected teams of 6-8 and headed out to clean up the streets – literally.

Larry Moore, one of our NEAC Commissioners, volunteered his truck and his back as he drove the neighborhood, picking up what our teams gathered up.  He circled our clean-up area, picking up trash bags, tires, plywood, paint, a lot of empty beer, wine and liquor bottles, and a discarded mattress and box springs.  In all, we picked up over 200 bags.  Last year though, we collected over 600 bags.  We covered the same area again, so this tells me that we’re doing a better job of keeping our neighborhood clean! 

At noon, our teams, after a strenuous morning of labor, met back at the church for a cook-out.  Sandy had prepared hot dogs, baked beans, chips, drinks and ice cream for all the volunteers.  We had one challenge; the grill wouldn’t light.  My mistake – I should have tested it after lying dormant over the long winter.  We had quite the circle of BBQ experts before we were done.  I heard the question, “How many Lutherans does it take to grill a hot dog?” often.  We took our trays of “dogs” back to the kitchen to boil.  Everything turned out OK.

We had a good time and we accomplished a worthwhile mission.  We’re only borrowing this environment for a short while.  It’s up to us to pass this to future generations better than it was passed to us.  It’s not only good faith, it’s good sense.  So my gratitude to all who supported this effort.  “Well done, good and faithful servants.” 

Keep an eye on this blog.  We’ll be doing clean-ups periodically throughout the summer.  If you’d like to join, call our church office at 252-3191.