Reflections on Caroling

We had a good time caroling last Saturday night, but this was a 'first time' for a few things.

1. We were actually in Detroit (the Warrendale neighborhood), not in Dearborn. I think this was signficant. Although Warrendale and Dearborn look kind of like interlocking parts on the map, they are different. Dearborn, even East Dearborn, really is a suburb. It's an old neigbhorhood, and Arabs dominate the landscape, but it does have a suburban character. Warrendale is definitely Detroit.

The main implication of this is that people were very reluctant to open doors to us on Saturday night. Other groups, going to random houses in Dearborn, found houses opening up to them as they were singing. People in Detroit are probably guarded about opening their door at night.

2. Because of #1, we should have gone to select houses, probably contacts we made from the ministry center.

3. The guy who actually was WAVING US AWAY was a Chinese guy! He surely must have seen the faces of most of our group. As far as I'm aware, there are hardly any Chinese in Warrendale. He's the first Chinese person I've seen there. I guess I expected a warmer welcome - even if he was strongly Buddhist (which is what he said).

4. We got gift bags to Arab families who are usually not reached. Please pray for God to use those materials to really show people the love of Jesus Christ!