Thanks for all of your prayers. We are excited to see what God will do this week – the things He will He teach us and the opportunities He will give us to serve Him.
We departed the Church at 4AM today, and drove to Sacramento to catch our flight. After we checked in, we all ate breakfast together and caught our on-time flight to Chicago. We arrived in Chicago, got our rental van, and drove to the campus of North Park University – our home for the week.
When we arrived at North Park, which is the location of the CSM Chicago headquarters, we met our host for the week Bryant, and moved into the housing complex. He gave us an overview of the week, provided us additional details about our ministries, and answered any questions our students had. We then went to a Vietnamese restaurant for dinner.
After dinner, we went on a “prayer tour” of the city. We traveled through the south side of Chicago, and saw some of the poorest neighborhoods and the richest neighborhoods in all of Chicago. We were also given insight and background into the history and diversity of the various Chicago communities.
Tomorrow will be our first full day of ministry. We head to the Boys and Girls club first thing in the morning, and start our ministry with the children of that neighborhood. We will also have a full day doing a variety of other ministries. We will be helping out at the “Good News Community Kitchen” in the evening.
Pray for us tomorrow that we are able to bring glory to God in all that we do.
Our first full Day of ministry was amazing!
We started off the day with our morning devotions – The North Park University campus is beautiful, so spending time with the Lord and enjoying His creation is a special treat.
After Breakfast, we headed to the “James Jordan Boys and Girls Club”. This is our central ministry hub this week for our morning ministry. The club is named after Michael Jordan’s father, and is supported financial by Michael and the Chicago Bulls. We got a chance to meet the staff, get a tour of the facility, and learn about our responsibilities for the week. The children are awesome, the needs great, and opportunities plentiful.
In the afternoon, we came back to the campus to rest, and to take advantage of our daily shower slot.
At 4:15 PM we headed to the “Good News Community Kitchen”, a community church that runs a feeding program to the homeless and working poor in the community. We served 150+ meals, met some great people, and worked really hard. Many of the students wanted to come back later in the week.
We had dinner at a Peruvian restaurant, and came back to the school campus for our evening debrief time – this time outside as the sun set.
Continue to pray for team unity, and for energy. The humidity seems to sap the energy dry by mid-afternoon. We are excited to see what God has in store for us tomorrow.
Tuesday was another amazing day of ministry. We are getting so many different experiences, with so many opportunities to minister, that all are being STRETCHED!
Today we started out at the day at the Boys and Girls club, and continue to work hard, play even harder, and establish relationships. We are finding that the children are starving for attention, so it seems to get harder the deeper the relationships become, making leaving in the afternoon difficult.
After a full day of work at the Boys and Girls club, we went to a local park for about an hour, and then went to our second ministry site for the day, “The Marillac House” – a Christian family development center focusing on helping children. We got a chance to do some tutoring for the afternoon, and get to know some of the children in the program. We really enjoyed meeting the people and spending time with the children.
We had dinner tonight at an Ethiopian restaurant, which was a very unique experience. We all share off of a common platter, and we do not use utensils, but pick the food up with a flat bread. Most enjoyed the food, but all tried everything. The students have very much embraced our unique eating opportunities.
Keep praying for us Wednesday – we are praying that our relationships with the children will grow, and opportunities will arise in the days ahead to share our faith.
Another awesome day of ministry on Wednesday. The students are working hard and have amazing attitudes, especially considering how many things we have done, and how hard we have worked. We are really getting a unique variety of ministry opportunities each and every day.
The day started with a group breakfast at a local restaurant. Our typical morning meal consists of bagels, toast, and cereal. It was a nice way to start off the day walking to breakfast together. After breakfast, we headed back to the Boys and Girls club. Wednesday is movie day, so most of our students traveled with the children to a local theater that had summer $1 movies. Some of our students stayed back and worked with the older children. After watching the “Bee Movie”, we headed back to the Boys and Girls club for lunch.
We had a small afternoon break; we headed to the “Chicago Christian Industrial League” – a transitional housing facility for individuals and families. We served the meal, helped with the cooking (a little), and cleaned up at the end. A great experience!
We enjoyed dinner at an Algerian restaurant, and had Lentil soup, coos-coos, and a variety of meats. Very enjoyable, and the students once again ventured out of their comfort zones and tried new things.
Our evenings have been a highlight of the day. Each night, a student shares a devotional, basically what God has been teaching them. Vanessa shared Monday, Rebekah on Tuesday, and Nicole and Lauren shared last night. They have all done a very good job, and have been a blessing with what they have shared.
Pray for us on Thursday. Tiredness and lack of sleep are starting to catch up with us. Thursday afternoon, we get to meet together with all of the CSM students – about 150 in all – and have dinner together and worship together. The students are looking forward to meeting other students and hearing about their experiences in the city.
Another great day in Chicago! Our ministry at the Boys and Girls club is starting to wind down, and our students are already anticipating a difficult day Friday as we say goodbye. The impact has tremendous.
Most of the morning was spent working alongside a group from New York that provides opportunities for children to bless other children. The entire boys and girls club participated in creating blankets and pillows for children in the hospital. The post lunch activity was dance lessons – we caught only a few minutes of this before we had to leave.
We also stopped by the United Center – where the Chicago Bulls play their home games. It is only about a block away from the Boys and Girls club, and we got a chance to take photos by the Michael Jordan statue out front.
We were supposed to spend our afternoon at the beach, but the weather was not very cooperative. It rained hard for most of the afternoon. We still went to the beach (Lake Michigan), but our stay was short. We also went to “Dunkin Donuts”, which seem to be on every corner. It was a nice treat, and a good change of pace.
The evening was a definite highlight of the day. All of the students working with CSM this week – about 150 total – got together for dinner and worship. It was awesome hearing what the other groups were doing, and how God was using them. The speaker was also a great blessing. He provided what they refer to as the “Spoken Word”, which is a poetry/rap presentation. You will need to ask the students for a better description, but all were absolutely blessed by the evening.
We are looking forward to an amazing last day of ministry tomorrow!
The last day of ministry at the James Jordan Boys and Girls club was both very productive, and very hard. We have spent most of the week building relationships, and saying goodbye was not easy. I am so proud of each of our students and their willingness to invest into the lives of these children. Everyone did an awesome job.
After saying our goodbyes at the Boys and Girls club, we headed back to the college campus to get ready for our next event. We split into two groups for “Immersion Night”, where we are sent into the city via public transportation (more specifically, the “L” train), and are to imagine what it would be like to be homeless teen in downtown Chicago. We each had $2 for dinner, and where supposed to secure a meal and find where we could stay if needed. It was difficult, and very eye opening. We all met many very nice and interesting people. It was really good to get a different feel for the city.
Saturday will be a different day. We are spending our morning cleaning and packing, and in the afternoon we are heading to Six Flags Great America. It will be interesting since it has rained all night.
The goal will be to have an update Sunday before we get on the plane, but with our early departure, that may be difficult. Thank you for your prayers and support.
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