Chicago - Day Four

Boy, God sure is messing with some people on this trip! Last night I led a debrief with our entire group. It was the first time we were all together for a debrief and it was great for everyone to hear from the other groups and what God was doing in them. But first, let's play catch-up...

On Tuesday, as I wrapped up working with Teams Murray and Kroc, Kirk Bell - the pastor we were working with - sat us down and talked with us for about an hour. Two things that seemed to stand out in what he said were:

• He shared a story about how he felt that God was leading him to go get his car washed one night. When he did, while he was there, he looked in the mirror leading out of the bay and saw a flash. His friend grabbed him and pulled him down beside a car. It turns out that someone had just shot a young kid who had stolen a car with some drugs in it to get payback. The next thing he knows, he is standing face-to-face with the gunman. He looked at him and said, "We're not dying today." When the gunman walked away, he walked over to the young man who was lying in a pool of blood and, before he died, Kirk was able to lead him to Christ. Our students seemed to really resonate with the need to be constantly listening to what God is saying to them because you never know what He will do through you.
• He also compared having Jesus inside you to having diarrhea (stick with me here). He talked about when you have diarrhea, you just gotta let it out. It should be the same way with Jesus. we have Him inside us, which should lead to an urgent desire to let Him out and let others know about Him. It's not an illustration that would work at La Croix, but it worked in this setting. Several of our students also resonated with this.

Later that afternoon, we served at Cornerstone Community Outreach, an outreach started by Jesus People USA. We served in the kitchen of a soup kitchen in one of the areas of the most visible homeless population. We served dinner and talked with over 200 people that evening. The thing that stood out to me was that homelessness does not discriminate. We saw whites, blacks, Asians, Hispanics, men, women, and children (that part killed me). The students served like champs! And we had a blast afterwards playing with Christian(?). He was this little boy from the Congo and he was holding court with us and we were doing anything he asked. We got a good laugh from him!

Wednesday morning was spent driving a couple of students around to doctor's appointments and pharmacy runs. That afternoon, one of our groups had a powerful experience. Team Murray did a Meet a Need, which means they broke up into smaller groups and started talking with homeless folks. Each group was also given $5.00 to meet the need of one of the homeless people they encountered. They were not to simply give the money to someone, but to talk to them enough to find out an actual need, and then meet it. Caleb's group encountered someone and talked with her. They asked if they could pray with her. Caleb started praying and when he 'ran out of things to say,' he just continued praying. He said he felt like God was praying through him, and that he had never experienced anything like it before. All of the other students were very moved by the experience as well. Dylan felt like he should use his own money to buy the lady coffee and food (since they had already used their $5.00), so he did (even though it was against the rules). I think they all experienced something that they will never forget.

Yesterday was a pretty easy day. We - Team Capone - went to our morning anchor site, the YMCA Early Childhood Program. How fun! We hung out with, read to, cuddled with, and tickled lots of kids. I loved being the tickle monster, but boy, they wore me out! The afternoon was spent at the beach just relaxing and playing. The students got a taste of Great Lakes swimming - it was FREEZING! And then last night we had a taco picnic on the North Park campus and a night of worship. We sang songs and had Leslie Hunter speak with us and share his poetry. The students ate him up!

Our debrief last night was really great! It seems like they have experienced an openness to God's Spirit like never before. They can sense His presence and the rewards from being obedient to what He is asking them to do. My prayer is that both of those continue long after we return home. That's where you - Mom and Dad - come in. Please don't let this experience fall by the wayside. Find ways for them to serve and see how they can be used by Him. Encourage them to regularly spend time with God so they can recognize what His voice sounds like. We don't want this to be some mountaintop experience that has no impact on the rest of their lives. But they can change the world if they listen to what God says and do what He calls them to do. Let's help them do that!

I don't think I will be able to upload more pictures until we get back. It's taking too long, and I have to get on to another doctor's appointment and to a ministry site. Keep praying!