Monday Church

A couple of weeks ago, I was pulling into the trailer park, and as I was approaching my home, I had the words “it’s the church” pop into my head. This was a little confusing to me, because in the 9 years that we have been doing House of Hope, I have never personally referred to my home as a church. The kids have called it church, the neighbors, the parents, and the community have referred to it as church. I know that. But that has never been how I refer to the trailer when I am alone.

This was not a program night, I was not preparing for a youth night or a BBQ or a chat with a neighbor, I was just going home to let my dog out. 

I have spent a couple of weeks thinking about that moment. The initial surprise was immediately followed by a slight shrug and “well, it's true”. 

I originally disregarded the moment altogether. I know that Matthew 18:20 says, “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” I know that House of Hope really might be the only church that some of these kids who walk through my door will attend.

But like I said, that is not a thought that would have been my own…so it must have been God, right? A reminder that amidst all the newness that comes with our Sterling Heights location, the mission is the same. We are the church. 

When I first started drafting this blog, I wrote that the kids do not call it church yet, but that is not actually true anymore. As they were walking up the steps to my front door this past Monday, I overheard a conversation where one kid was explaining to a new kid that this is church.

Since February, when programming for Sterling Estates officially started, we have slowly grown from the original six kids on Monday nights. Since the end of the school year, it has varied from 20/30+ kids each week. Basically, what this means is that no one really knows what is going on. The kids show up because their friend told them about it, and they want free food and a chance to go down the slip n slide. Week by week, though,  we are getting to see them begin to understand what House of Hope is all about. They are able to explain the rules, they eagerly await their chance to share “What made you smile this week?”, and they can even (sometimes) recap what Bible story we talked about the previous week.

So for now, as we navigate through all of the newness, I am so thankful for God’s sweet reminders and a set of very familiar words.

Oh look, it's the church

-Alyssa