Challenge Update #1: Chicago

A note from Grace…

Greetings Minnesota!! It’s Sunday evening and we finally have some down time to reflect on the weekend’s happenings and tell them to you. We arrived in Chicago at Theresa’s house at 12:30 at night—Saturday morning, technically—and unloaded our belongings into the house while the neighbors stared. (They tend to stay up late on Friday nights, smoking on their front stoops.) The ride was uneventful and relatively painless, only eight hours long with the seven of us packed snuggly into a seven-passenger van. We stopped half-way through at Wendy’s for greasy burgers, although Sarah and I made ourselves peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. We spent the car ride checking off boxes on Jennifer’s road-trip bingo while Reid sang the Banana Phone song, David told interesting stories and told jokes that none of us could understand, and Sarah and Scott played games on Sarah’s ipod thing. I, being the nerd that I am, and having little understanding of technology, read Les Miserables and listened to classical music in an attempt to “improve my mind” (although I must admit, Sarah’s catapulting martians kept catching my eye) while Greg maneuvered us skillfully with grace through the most intricate arteries of Chicago.

We were blessed by Theresa, a member of Rock Church, to stay at her house instead of a classroom at the church building. Her house is comfortable and larger than it appears from the outside. You walk into the living room, themed by a sort of mix between ancient Egypt and British royalty, which joins the kitchen by a small hallway. The females quartered upstairs, and the males downstairs, and Theresa was very friendly and accommodating always assuring that we were comfortable and holding nothing back in her generosity. We spread out our belongings and were able to turn out the lights by one o clock.

About four in the morning, the storms that the forecast called for blew in. The rain fell in torrents, accompanied by the kind of thunder that makes the heart jump out of the skin and wakes you up in the dead of night so you are disoriented and can’t remember where you are or what your purpose is. About an hour later the storm abated, and I was left to lie awake and dwell on the power of our Creator. We hadn’t been in Illinois for four hours and already God was reminding us who was boss and what wonders he can work with his hands. And boy did we get a taste of those wonders that Saturday!

We were up and out of the house by eight the next morning, with water bottle in hand, ready to put together a carnival for a community of high-energy kids on less than six hours of sleep. We parked at The Rock of Our Salvation Church, and a staff member in a yellow t-shirt with the words Voices and Choices on the back (this years’ theme) led us to the meeting hall where we breakfasted on bagels and fruit. At nine we teamed up with two other groups of volunteers and were each assigned a station to man during the carnival: some went to operate the games, others to serve hotdogs and slushies, some to the blow-up moon bounce, and others to clean-up duty. By ten the children streamed in with their parents and played hard for prizes for four hours. During that time the pastors gave away prizes to the kids who were able to answer Bible questions, and the staff handed away free food by the popcorn bag and hotdog wrapper. The carnival was a success, a blessing to both the children and their parents. I’ve never seen so many people in ecstasy to receive little favors like bouncy balls and toy trucks, as well as bigger gifts like bicycles. According to the staff, we are in a poorer portion of the city, and the people flocked by the hundreds. I’ve never seen such generosity. Free hotdogs, popcorn, slushies, and ice cream seemed like a big expense, not to mention boxes of prizes. But the church wouldn’t let the people pay a dime. At two in the afternoon our group went into the church building (stiffly, because we were all terrible sunburnt, having forgotten the sunscreen) and the ladies of the church had provided a lunch for the volunteers in the fellowship hall. Tired and hungry, we feasted on fried chicken and lasagna, at which point a lady named Laurie gave us instructions on a BBQ we were going to serve the people from 3 to 4. Until then the pastor was going to give a sermon to the adults, and our friend Robert Stevenson gave an abbreviated version to the children, which was where we came in, offering our services to crowd control and the passing out of fiery-hot Cheetos. After our duties with the children were fulfilled we put on aprons and hairnets and went outside to wait quietly for the adult service to finish. Pastor Washington was in the process of an altar call and tears came to my eyes when I saw dozens of people at the front of the tent, ready to accept Jesus into their lives.

When the service ended, church members led the saved into another tent to talk with them further. There were 69 total. The rest of the people lined up at tables and we served them ribs, chicken, mac and cheese, baked beans, and cookies. It was so fulfilling to watch each individual pass us, to see their face, and talk with them while we served them supper. About six o clock everyone had eaten and we went into the church to enjoy the leftovers ourselves and then go to the chapel for a time of debriefing, a time of real enrichment, for we were able to see how the day had impacted everyone else, and by the end of the hour, I felt like I’d known everyone for years. Then, because the Wyzata group was leaving in the morning, hugging and farewells commenced, and we left for Theresa’s house feeling fully satisfied with the day and thankful to the Lord for his blessings and the black community of Chicago.

This morning we rose refreshed after nearly twelve hours of sleep, and returned to the church for the morning service and the baptism of 11 people, some of them the newly saved. Some of us had never been to a black church service before, and it was an experience we’ll never forget!! They sang four songs in the two hour service, all of which were hand-pumping, halleluiah-shouting, repeating-until-you-go-hoarse songs that lasted at least for five minutes. They were easy to catch on to and it was fun to see the congregation so engaged. Then Pastor Washington preached from 2 Corinthians for about a half hour until sweat poured from his head, and with such zeal that he was singing parts of his sermon and jumping and rolling around on the floor! His message was a follow-up for the new believers and how they responded! Jumping to their feet and raising their hands, shouting “amen” and “praise the Lord!” and clapping every few minutes. It was glorifying to God, and encouraging to all of us.

We ate more leftovers for lunch, said our goodbyes, and went downtown for ice cream and sightseeing. We saw the “Bean” and took lots of pictures, most of which are posted on Facebook. We went to Gino’s East Italian Pizzeria and ate the most delicious, freshly baked sausage and vegetarian pizza. Now we are gathered in the basement, listening to Reid’s vuvuzela fanatics, and giving Scott advice for his swollen thumb (we aren’t sure what he did to it).
Thank you for your support and prayers, and for taking the time to read this novel! We are enjoying our time here, and will leave for Columbus at 6 tomorrow morning. Blessings to you all, and more updates to come!