Block Party Weekend!

This past weekend we were thrilled to have another Block Party after having the Spring Carnival the weekend before! On Friday afternoon three teams arrived from different parts of the U.S. to help for the weekend: Lyndon Bible Church (VT), Hope Community Church (NC) and Community Cornerstone (PA). After arriving, the groups had orientation to the weekend then headed to South Street for a Scavenger Hunt. The purpose was to find different types of people through starting conversations. So while it was a fun experience, it was also a practical training exercize in how to start conversations with people.

On Saturday, we had our block party from 1-4pm. It was different from the week before in that while we did not have the Carnival-like atmosphere (moon bounce, dunk tank, etc.), instead we hosted a 3-on-3 basketball tournament for the children and teens, opened up our youth center for a massive dodgeball game, and provided all sorts of food and refreshments. It was great to see so many children and teens show up from the community -even with how hot the temperature was! The best part was the opportunity that some people from our church (as well as the visitors) had to time and talk/hang out with some more of the neighbors in our community. Later that evening the groups headed for south Philly to grab Pat's cheesesteaks then drove to center city to spend time with the homeless in the subways, at Love Park or Logan Square. It seemed like it was a neat experience for the groups since only a small handful had ever done that before!

On Sunday morning, two of the groups departed for home (since they lived further away) while the PA team stayed to help out with our Kingdom Kids program in the afternoon. Even though it went by fast, it was an amazing weekend and the teams were a huge help with our block party. Many thanks for their servant hearts!

You can see more pictures of the Spring Carnival in the Training Center Photo Gallery.
By: Brent Saba