Gardening to Make Beauty Out of Blight

Riet Schumack couldn't believe it when she sensed God calling her to Detroit. "I hate big cities, so when the Lord called us [here]—there was no way around it—we spent many years questioning God," says the Dutch native. After moving with her husband to the struggling Brightmoor neighborhood in 2006, Riet wondered how she could serve her neighbors. She took an inventory of her passions, and "children" and "gardening" topped the list.

What happened next is documented in this short film, the second shot on site in Detroit by This Is Our City filmmaker Nathan Clarke. Riet's story is for anyone who is called to make something good and beautiful out of brokenness—that is, all of us.