I decided to break it into a 3 part piece highlighting my adventures of the past few days:
Part 1: This past Tuesday I was able to travel to Highland Park in Detroit, MI to work with the kids at 323 (Highland Park Community Outreach) during their after school ministry program.
This was my second time returning to the 323 home (read about my first experience here), and I was again welcomed with open arms and loving hearts.
I got to hang out inside with the gals getting my nails painted and painting others as well. I also played soccer outside in their field laughing and letting out some pent up energy with the kiddos. Being able to connect fun and faith with the kids and making the connections is an awesome and incredible way to spend part of my time on summer break.
My love for 323 and the kids continues to grow and it is evident that their love for God is continuously growing too. #323ForTheKing
Part 2: Last summer as a SpringHill Day Camp Counselor I was able to travel to all parts of Michigan (and beyond) furthering the kingdom of God through sharing the Gospel; each week living with h
ost families in host homes (read more about my past summer adventures: here).
With Summer 2016 upon us, I found myself longing to travel and learn from others who open up their home to me. To my dismay, God had already planted the seed in Joe and Heather Vercellino to open up their home to CMU students to come to 323 and then join Joe at the school he teaches at the following day. I seized this opportunity and Joe and Heather showed kind, loving, and genuine hospitality towards me. I was welcomed with a delicious hot fudge sundae, provided a beyond comfortable bed and roof to sleep under, and woke up to beautifully french pressed coffee (which I’m slowly teaching myself to like).
It’s inspiring to see Joe and Heather use what they are blessed with to help bless others. Thank you both again for living out God’s word (1 Peter 4:9) and showing such genuine love.
Part 3: It had been a long while since my body was woken up by an alarm set for 5:05 A.M. Possibly to your dismay, it actually didn’t take much for me to rise up out of bed, because I knew that that was the day I got to accompany Mr. V himself to school. Joe is the music teacher at Voyageur Academy, a free, public charter school serving students in grades K-12 located in Detroit, MI. This school is partner schools with Jalen Rose Leadership Academy (read more about my previous experience facilitating at JRLA during LAS in the D: here). I got to see first hand what it was like having Mr. V as an encouraging, caring and loving teacher.
Not to mention I learned more about how to create chords and read music, as well as continue to be showered in love by the kind and authentic hearts of the youth in the school. A bonus to my day was that I also got to see my LAS g-g-mentor (Gary Williams) who is also a teacher at the same school as Joe! I love making more connections and seeing the old ones continue to grow.
Final words: march to the beat of your own drum (or bongos)
From the Desk of Danie Leigh 
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