Food, Fun, and Advancing the Kingdom of God in the City

I survived all of the intensity of the past couple of days! It was tiring, but God accomplished a lot this weekend. Encountering God in the City on Saturday morning opened doors for racial, socioeconomic, and cultural reconciliation. Many people at North Way are grasping the vision for reaching the city with the love of Christ through compassion, development, and justice. We enjoyed hosting a missional team of students from Maryland in our home on Saturday evening for the block party.  A whole bunch of our neighbors stopped by to participate in the fun, which of course included Salvatore's pizza (the best pizza in Pittsburgh), street chalk, nerf dart tag, stained glass mosaic crafts, Wii Sports games, and ice cream. All of these things are essential parts of a good block party in Homewood. Worship was powerful on Sunday morning, and I could tell that our church is grasping North Way's vision to reach the city. People shared many stories of life change with me. Since I'm relatively new at leading a church, it's exciting for me to see how people living passionately for Christ can make such a difference in each other's lives. I loved meeting with all of North Way's interns in the afternoon, and my mentees joined me for the chili cook off on Sunday afternoon. We had a beautiful day. People tossed footballs and baseballs around. Kids played in the park. All of us powerhoused through a bunch of yummy chili. People walking by our picnic grove stopped in to join us for the food and fun. All in all, it was just an incredible weekend. God is doing amazing things in Pittsburgh. I'm so thankful for the amazing calling that God has given me.