The Presbyterian Church of Okemos

Our team from Michigan has arrived and we are ready for a week of service together! We enjoyed Chicago cookies and a time of worship together. 

This morning we worshiped with Edgewater Presbyterian Church. Rebekah, our group leader, led the liturgy. Pastor Kristin, our host pastor, spent a few minutes in the service speaking directly to our youth group and sharing with them the importance of living the life God calls you to live. It was a beautiful time for us to worship together! 

We spent the morning pulling out weeds and laying down Preen. Tomorrow we will tackle mulching and edging. We were also able to clean out a dirty trash can which the neighbors were happy to be rid of. This project will help brighten up the front of the church! 

Monday evening we helped out at a sidewalk food pantry that provides groceries and ready to eat meals for community members. It was so special to see the care that the staff offered! 

Care for Real gave us bouquets of flowers that were leftover from the giveaway. As we walked back to the church we gave our flowers to people we passed. It was a special way to spread joy and left us with smiles on our faces!

On Tuesday we spent the day at the church accomplishing different projects. Our big task was to plant bushes, move flowers, mulch, and add edging to the beds outside of Edgewater Presbyterian. We are happy to brighten up the outside of this building! 

Wednesday morning we returned to Care For Real and served again with their outdoor pantry. It started storming about an hour in. So we paused from working outside and began to clean the bins the facility used.

Thursday morning we met up with another Chicago PPM team at the Bean and spent the day exploring the city. We walked the Magnificent Mile and popped into some stores. 

Thursday afternoon we had the chance to tour Fourth Presbyterian Church. We were kindly shown around by a staff member who explained some of the old architecture to us. We met an organist while we were there and she played some beautiful music. This organ is the largest in Chicago! 

Our group from Okemos Presbyterian left this morning to catch the train back to Michigan. We created some beautiful pavers to leave in the garden. It’s been a great week serving together!