What if you could get 250 kids from the suburbs and 250 kids from the city together for one week in August? What if you could get these 500 kids to serve on both sides of 8 Mile, the imaginary wall that divides metro Detroit? What if for a moment you believe that high school kids could start a revolution in metro Detroit that unites the region?
There are no “what ifs” about it. This can happen and IS happening this August at Wayne State University. 500 high schoolers will descend on Detroit August 2 – 6 to participate in a revolutionary camp that hopes to break down barriers and transform this area into a region united. This is Detroit Reverse 2010.
Tonight I attended the kick off for Detroit Reverse. It was amazing. It was amazing to see 10 bus loads of kids from the “burbs” come to Detroit and hang out with local teens from the city. They just hung out like most teens do. They played basketball together. They danced together. They worshiped together.
At the end of the night, you had the 3 leaders of Second Ebenezer Church, Citadel of Faith Covenant Church and Kensington Community Church on stage arm in arm and praying together. Praying that this movement among our local teens will serve the bigger purpose of uniting a region that has been so divided and has suffered from some of the worst economic hardships in recent history. You also had a few hundred students standing together and building relationships with one another. These are the relationships that are going to matter and make a difference. It will be through these relationships that change will happen.
I can’t tell you how excited I was to be a part of this. Detroit Reverse is about unity and building relationships. I look forward to supporting this group of students as best I can up until August 2 – 6.
What can you do? What are you willing to do? What if…?
