Delores got up early this morning to go buy breakfast food at Klein’s. Our tiny back yard keeps getting filled up with trash and empty bottles, so Delores and I cleaned it and defrosted our refrigerator this morning. Larry and the summer staff girls had to be at Susquehanna at 9:30 to begin summer staff training Larry has to go because he's never been through a summer staff training week before.

Sooty, who in the past has not been overly friendly or cooperative, helped us a lot this morning. He is a twelve-year-old kid who lives across the street. His family is Jehovah's Witness. They won't let him come to anything at Teen Haven except recreational activities. Anyway, he got boxes for us, and helped us sweep!

This first week of summer is sure different from last year’s! I was just getting here, and wondering if I was going to be attacked by gang members simply walking from the Teen Haven van to Susquehanna’s front door! That’s where the summer staff training is held. Barb and Doug mostly handle it. Barb introduced her live in teens to us the first day, and that’s the first time I saw Ronnie. He left shortly after that. Didn’t even recognize him when he showed up on our doorstep at 20th Street last November. This handsome young man, in a trenchcoat smiling up at me from the sidewalk. He greeted me politely with some curiosity, and then asked if Barb was in. I think I was disappointed to learn he was only fourteen!

This year I enjoyed the luxury of watching a morning TV show while I did up my hair and ate lunch! There was no regular Monday staff meeting of course.

For the past three or four weeks there have been two pretty little white girls at the YSC. They almost totally ignored me when I walked in. But today, one of them Kathy came bouncing up to me all excited and asked if I would do her portrait. I make the policy of doing it for whoever asks me first when I hit the door. I do their portrait and put John 3:16 with their name on it and give it to them.

I don't converse with the girls easily, but I do try to strike up a conversation with a girl when I’m doing her portrait. It's easier because I have her attention I don't have to try.

Anyway today I did get into a good conversation with Kathy's friend June, who was sitting beside me and watching me draw. Both the girls were really friendly and open. I found out that June had been adopted and her parents belong to the Salvation Army. June said she made a decision to accept Christ one night at a service, because of her sister in law's begging and crying. But it didn't work out and so she just decided to be herself, to quote her own words. She started doing drugs heroin. She said she has no bitterness toward her parents she says they're good and reliable and that she's grateful, but doesn't know how to express it. She's looking for a drug rehabilitation center but she still wants to "just be herself." Her girlfriend and later, her boyfriend, turned her on to drugs.

It was a good chance to witness to both of them. June could even quote John 3:16 because she'd read it on some other portraits I had done! It surprises me how Lord is so faithful; you just pray that He'll control the situation, rest in the assurance that He does, and simply catch the opportunities as they come.

I went to my Keystone Driver Training classroom instruction tonight from 7:00 to 9:00. 1 don't think I told you that my permit finally came through and that I had immediately signed up for driving lessons. Cost me $60 bucks. On the subway back home I saw Stan Miller! He's 21 now and doing construction work. He was one of the kids Barb and Doug worked when Teen Have first began. He became a Christian through their ministry. He'd been in the Wallace street gang, dropped out of school in sixth grade, joined the service and gone AWOL. When he finally got himself together through Doug and the Lord he turned himself in, got his high school equivalency diploma, and now is working and thinking of going to college. I met him when he stopped by to visit Barb at 20th Street. He's a warm, friendly guy yet kind of withdrawn seems to have sensitivity and intelligence—recommended a lot of books for me to read like The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Black like Me, and some others. He’s a really attractive guy - and a sharp dresser. I didn't recognize him at all on the subway and when he came over to talk, I was all set to ignore him (thought he was some fresh, drunk guy) when I realized with a shock who it was!

He came over to the Haven to talk for a while he made some pretty insightful comments about ghetto life that made me realize a few things like the reason black neighborhoods get rundown so often is because the people barely have enough to buy the house and they can't maintain it because they don't have the money. You know how much money it takes when things get old, break down, run down. It's hard to keep up your house if you also have a family to keep in food and clothes, etc. Stan says he wants to get out of Philly in the summer because heat and the tension make it like hell.

Greg has really been showing an interest in Martha—he came over last night and tonight and was playing ping pong with her. She’s a very pretty girl who loves the Lord seen her with her Bible several times already.

The summer staff girls were having devotions in their room tonight Annie was reading the Bible. They're more "together" than we were last summer.

Poor Delores (not really). Larry and I vote her good Samaritan of the year! She really is! She's selfless with time, money, food and she relates so easily to strangers. She’ll pick up a hitchhiker without fear. She took Mrs. Anderson's sister to the hospital today, went to the YSC, took a group of Broad street girls to the Crusades, and then took one or two carloads of kids for a ride, took Nardy home, probably stopped to check up on Jerry on the way back. She must have gotten in around 12:00! Between living with her and living with Barb, I've learned a lot. I think Annie is going to be one of those special people too.

It makes me remember other people who have influenced me. Andy Anderson, and Connie Meyers, two of my roommates my freshman year at Bob Jones; Gail McKinney, my roommate my sophomore year; Karen Porter, close friend and fellow speech major. And Mrs. Portfleet, one of my teachers.