Thursday Revelations

Hey, Steph here, checking in on for the Thursday blogging. We haven't passed out from exhaustion just yet, but I think Rachel and Emily might be well on their way to laughing themselves to sleep.

First, let me say that I am amazed at how much I have personally been changed this week. The combination of service, eye-opening projects/assignments and devotions has been revealed some things to me that I've never even considered. My heart has begun to change, and I'm not the only one. As a result of the tough discussions we have had this week from our Bridge Builders leaders, the kids are beginning to start their own tough conversations. Through these talks, I'm noticing that they are beginning to form real opinions and thoughts that will help them make good decisions as they pass through their last years in school, then onto college and adulthood. 

In addition to the great discussion, we are genuinely enjoying each other's company. It's kind of difficult to get to know these kids in the little time I get to spend with them at church events, but here, when we're together 24 hours a day, I'm getting to know their personalities, their likes and dislikes (Taylor loves gummy worms), and although we're up early and working all day, we are having a lot of fun. I'm really enjoying building friendships with them and I hope they feel the same.

Today's project began by packing extra bagged lunches this morning. One lunch was for us and the other two were for our afternoon "Meal Share." We rode the El to the Loop/Business District and were instructed to find a homeless person and interact with them and find out their story, and in turn, "share" a meal with them. We ended up only finding two people who looked homeless, but in total, gave away 7 bagged lunches for whomever needed them. 

For me (and most of the kids, I assume), this was completely out of my comfort zone. I'm not a conversationalist with strangers, so this was the task I was least looking forward to. But when it came down to it, whether our conversation was awkward or even if we didn't say the right things, we made the effort to listen to someone and give something of ourselves. It doesn't seem like much - a bagged lunch, but we know that God will work through our actions. 

It's almost 1 am, and we have to be out of here by 7:30, so I'll wrap it up. I am SO GLAD we came to Chicago. The Lord is working. In all of us.

In Him - 

Stephanie

Humpday in the Windy City

The title "Humpday" was to signify that today busted our hump.  We are moving pretty full-on all day long.  Which, has its good and, uh, challenging aspects.  Despite the challenges, our activities, the team dynamics and variety of our time spent are amazing.

As some of our updaters may have told you already, our groups are split into three teams.  My team is called the "YES" team.  That sometimes makes it a little difficult to have a conversation about our teams:  "Is the Peace group working on that project?"  "No, Yes."  okay, dumb example, but you get the picture.  Being a leader member of our group has, of course, given me a very different perspective on the way the trip is going.  The basic premise of the Yes group is that we work with Brad Beier, a terrific pastor (from what i've seen) of a neighborhood church here in Woodlawn.  It's a PCA church plant (woohoo) out of which he is hosting a summer day program for neighborhood kids.  The fun with the kids doesn't start til 1pm, which means that we have the whole morning to sit in bed and play games.  Yeah right.  Since our "real work" doesn't start until 1, our mornings mean we do whatever we are told...that morning...where ever in the lower neighborhoods of Chicago that may be.  You see the challenges now.  

Today's first project was cleaning various areas in Christ Bible Church (our home for the week).  This meant our second day of cleaning toilets and third of watching my crew stare blankly while we tried to figure out how to do what we need to.  Again, not a bad thing.  Just interesting.

After our primary work is done, we have "exercises" to get us into the life and culture of Chicago.  Today's was at first odd, then lots of fun.  We rode the El(ivated train) from the closest station near the south end of the line to the top end of the line, then back again.  Sounds like a weird idea, i know, but the object is not just to ride, but to engage.  We were assigned to strike up conversation with people on the train.  Now, this is far beyond MY comfort zone, so i can only figure what this did for the young'uns.  But we had some really great conversations with people, just on the train.  Some as light as how to navigate the transit, and some about how to best teach communities how to embrace diversity.  It makes it sound like  a good idea to go ride CARTA when i get home for the same reason. i keep getting all these ideas about stuff to do once i get home. Maybe you should try it in your public transit system.

Let me make it very clear at this point how proud i am of the way our group is rising to the occasion handling any task thrown at them.  My fellow HPCers never cease to amaze me in getting stuff done.  i am particularly pleased with our Minneh-Soe-duh friends' addition to the group.  It took a couple of days for them to understand what i say to them, and i have upset them at least a couple of times making fun of their accent.  But we have made some good new friends.  i am equally as proud of these young ladies and their willingness to help out.  And i don't mind driving their car too much either.

i admit, i was dreading the responsibilities of leadership on this trip in the week leading up.  But being in this authority position is awesome.  Not only do i get to drive my young folks around the streets of Chicago-Oh, let me brag on my navigating skills for just a moment.  As long as we've been in Chicago, i've not looked at one map, unless you count the transit map i got on the El today.  But i have not gotten us lost once.  we've had to turn around and make a better turn once or twice.  But that comes with the new city...and the parks that show up out of nowhere.  But i have also gained a great deal of insight on our group.  i would ask as i wrap this up without hopefully going too long, that you pray that God would open the hearts of all the young people on this trip to experience the spirit of the trip.  We are doing a great job at getting our work done and making things happen. But that is only half of what God has in store for us here.  If He is using Sunshine the way He obviously is, then our task here is to change our own hearts using the experiences we've seen here.   

Oh yeah, and pray for that smell in our sleeping room.  Not quite sure what it is.  Oh, and Dan, the Minnesota leader says hi.  Think i'll go take a shower in the dark now.

--bo

Chicago, Tuesday update!

Tuesday-
Hi from Chicago! The past two days have been amazing for me and I'm sure every one else is having such a blast. I've been working with Sunshine Ministries VBS type summer program called "Summer Blast" with Morgan, Jennifer, and Emily from the HPC group and four other girls from the Minnesota group. We were split up between three different groups Emily, Morgan and I have been with the 5th-7th grade kids helping however we can. I have really been surprised with how sweet and receiving the kids have been to us. Yesterday when Summer Blast ended at two we went towards the city and took a tour of the Pacific Garden Mission which is a homeless shelter located in Chicago. Today, after SB we did a scavenger hunt all around the city which included many historical sites around the area. God has really blessed us so far with the people and groups we are working with and I am certain He will keep working with and through us throughout the week.

God Bless,
Rachel Monsees :)

Peace 07/20/09

Today (or yesterday soon to be), the peace group headed out to Chicago Embassy, which is an old Catholic church that has been recently renovated into an amazing sight. The stained glass windows were something! Once we got there we were immediately greeted with the shining smiles of the leaders just waiting for us to arrive. After we all introduced ourselves we sat down and started on the schedule for the day. Briefly going over the games, putting faces with names, and deciding who would run what game. Once we had finished dividing up who's doing what it was just a matter of time before the kids started to show up, and when they got there it was time!!!
The games begun and we were on our way to having an amazing day. After about an hour we all settled down and ate a lunch of peanut butter and jelly, turkey, and ham sandwiches. We had juice boxes and everything! Next up! We had a short lesson and a memory verse to memorize for the next day, "Christ Jesus came down to earth to save the sinners, oh whom I am the worst." 1 Timothy 1:15. And once they'd all started to loose concentration..... we brought back in the games! The next game we had planned was probably my absolute favorite game that we played! Its called, 250 ft. Scream! The title is pretty much the entire game. You take a big breath, plug your ears (optional) start running, and scream at the top of your lungs and you don't stop until you get to the other end and back where you started! As you can probably assume we gain their attention with that one :) so on to the next task at hand. For those of you who have helped with VBS at the church at anytime will know very well the difficulty of the dreaded task entitled........ CRAFT TIME!!!!!!! :O We started the journey of weaving baskets. Surprisingly the kids did really well. Only a few didn't understand right of the bat but they were quick to learn. Being the 7-12, A.D.D kids they are, they soon lost interest so we cracked out a brand new game that none of them had ever played before! The cool thing is that it was right up Robby's alley! Yep! Ultimate (Frisbee) was the next game on the agenda. They absolutely loved it. Some said better than football and up here that's hard to come by. We pretty much played that till 4 o'clock when they all headed back home. It was awesome to see how much they enjoyed us teaching them some of our favorite games and their readiness to learn.
After we had finished up their we headed out. Since we had been playing, running, jumping, and much much more we all decided it was a must to go and get something to drink! Once we all got back into the van with out sodas and water it was off the one of the biggest homeless shelters in the country (or world but I'm not quite sure). We had a tour of that and about halfway through we ran into one of the other groups just finishing up their tour. The size of the building was awesome! The fact that they had the ability and the money to build and support such a huge building so that the homeless can have a place to take a shower and a place to sleep is just amazing. The size of the whole complex was about 4 walmarts in a square, then three stories (or more) of that! Its just great that they have that shelter and word of God worked into every bit of it.
Once we had finished that we headed out to the Hamernick's house for some long awaited dinner!!! And we ate it up! We had pretty much a taco salad but you would put it in a mini fritos bad and then add cheese, salsa, lettuce, tomato, etc. and it was so good! We had ice cream cones afterwards and then just sat down and shared the stories of the each groups happenings. After maybe an hour we all headed down to the Sunshine Ministries building and learned a lot about all the different neighborhoods, and the way the people related to things in certain ways, and we discussed how that really happens everywhere even if you don't notice it. We spent maybe an hour and a half to two hours there and then it was off to the church (that we sleep in). Most came in and hopped in the shower and some went straight to sleep! It was a long day! But me? Well, a few of us weren't tired enough to cool down and get in bed so we played some basketball in the gym. That was fun!

If that's what we end up doing all week, this is going to be an great great week! Full of fun and games, friends, and the word of God!
Now! Its time for bed :)
Wes

In the Middle of Indiana...

Well we made it to our first destination: a Holiday Inn Express in Seymour, IN. It is about 50 miles across the Indiana border and probably 3 1/2 hours from Chicago. The trip up was relatively uneventful, which is a good thing. We stopped for dinner at a Cracker Barrel right next to the University of Louisville. There we enjoyed our last taste of southern food for a week. We certainly won't get any sweet tea in Chicago!

One of the best things so far is the weather: God is providing us with beautiful skies and perfect temperatures! We were also treated to a fantastic display of a sunset as we passed over the Ohio River and into Indiana. If the weather is any indication of how the rest of our trip will go, it's going to be amazing!

Tomorrow we'll arrive in Chicago around lunchtime. Please continue to pray for us!

- The Chicago Team

Chicago Missions: The Week Before

Hello friends, it's the Monday before we leave to go to Chicago for our Mission Trip. I just want to tell you a little about what we'll be doing and why we're doing it.

We'll be working with a group called Sunshine Gospel Ministries on the south side of Chicago. They are reaching a fairly poor area of the city for the Gospel in many ways. They seek the renewal of the city by giving people the hope that is offered through Jesus Christ.

During our week in Chicago, we will be assisting them in any way we can; from working with Summer Splash (a VBS type program), to visiting various ministry sites around the city. We will also be learning while we are there through intensive Bible Study and dialogue.

We will be updating this blog whenever possible (if we have internet access). So check in and see what's going on each evening! Please pray for us as we travel and as we work in the city. Pray for safety, for a strong team bond, for us to be powerful witnesses for Jesus Christ to the people of Chicago, and for protection against attacks from the enemy.

- The Captain