Shiloh Detroit

Shiloh Detroit is an artistic blend of carefully formed relationships centered on kids and leaders ex

Address

45 Ferris Street
Highland Park, MI
48203

Telephone

Website

http://www.shilohdetroit.com/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Shiloh Detroit posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Organization

Send a message to Shiloh Detroit:

Shortcuts

Want your organization to be the top-listed Non Profit Organization in Highland Park?

Delight.

Written by Joe Vercellino | Shiloh Detroit Founder

Shiloh Detroit was not born as an organization. It was not started as ministry. It was not piloted as a business idea or funded as a start up.

This place started as a single friendship between a teacher and a student in a classroom tucked into the streets of the heart of Detroit.

Paul wrote in 1 Thessolonians 2:8 “we have loved you so much that we have not only shared the Gospel but our own lives as well.” I have always wanted to be the type of teacher where my classroom and my life were saturated within each other. I want kids to experience the life and freedom of Christ. As a new (and white) teacher in a beautifully nuanced black neighborhood the only thing I had to offer my kids was my life and the heart of a learner.

Before my second year teaching I had a small group of boys called “Beasts of the Beat.” This hip-hop group was focused on one thing - a commitment to each other on a deep level with our eyes set on a delight in each other, our gifts and a desire to know Christ. Our week nights and weekends consisted of movies, dinners, game nights, church and trips to visit family. I even took some of these boys to pick out my wife’s engagement right. They entered my world and I entered theirs.

Through this my mindset towards the world, my understanding of race, my ability to extend compassion or grace with people and more importantly my faith - was shaped towards a deeper love of Jesus and His heart for the world.

After two years of teaching my school closed which was our hub of communication and served as a physical meeting space for many relationships I had come to know so dearly. In a community already used to relationships closing, opportunities closing, jobs closing, a school closing is just a drop in the bucket of disappointment.

In a story much longer than can be written here, Heather (my wife) and I bought a house across from my now abandoned school. The house had been used for the past 30 years to reach out to kids. This was the birthplace of Shiloh Detroit - a place that now serves as a second home for now over 50 kids, 8 leaders and programming ranging from weekly small groups to a touring group that travels into schools and has reached over 20,000 kids with a message of hope.

I’m now into my 8th year of teaching at a new school. Through Shioh, I’m still connected to many of the same kids I met as tiny people in my classroom 8 years ago. I always say to those that ask about Shiloh that it is not just a transforming place for kids but people like me as well. Shiloh means “peace,” a place where everyone can discover the treasure of Christ, the treasure of each other and the privilege of participating in a story greater than their own.