Thursday

Yesterday was a blast!

Students continued serving in their work groups during the morning. Then in the afternoon we went to Moody Bible Institute! We got to tour the campus and hear about all the amazing ways that Moody is training and equipping Christian leaders. We even ran into a former senior high student :-)

When the tours were over, the students were treated to an ice cream sundae bar....they loved this.

Afterwards, we headed to the lake for a devotional time and some fun at the beach. 

For our evening teaching, CW, the youth pastor at Sunshine, brought the message and he continued to push our group deeper into understanding the realities of racism and injustice. The conversations I heard happening in their small group discussions were really thought provoking and encouraging. What do these realities mean for the church, for us as Christ followers?

CW also performed a rap concert for our students....another highlight!

To finish the day, we surprised the students with a late night snack of Harold's fried chicken. A treat!

This morning they are at their work sites for their final work day. Keep praying for us...so much still to come in our last day today! 

Lauren

Wednesday

Good morning from Sunshine!

The kids are up and at their work sites for another morning of serving!

Yesterday they continued to work hard at their service sites in the morning. In the afternoon we participated in an economic poverty simulation. The simulation is interactive where students are given limited resources and a series of circumstances and then need to navigate the decisions they would make. The simulation gave students a glimpse of some of the complexities of economic poverty and sparked a series of awesome and thoughtful conversations.

Last night Jared again blessed our team with his teaching. He continued our conversations about issues of justice, injustice and racism specifically in American history and present day. Our students are wrestling with the reality of injustice and racism. I was so proud of them as I watched them share openly and honestly last night with each other about this topic. I listened to them ask questions, share frustration, and speak truth.

My continued prayer for them is to grow in their understanding of the character of God, that He is just and that He deeply loves all people. I pray that as His followers we would grow more in our compassion for the things that matter to God. As followers of Christ, what is our response to injustice and racism? I am praying for our students to begin to see what that could and would look like for the church, and for them.

Keep praying for us...God is moving in the hearts of our whole team.

Love from the SouthSide

Lauren

Tuesday

Tuesday was another wonderful day in Woodlawn.

They began the day serving in their work groups! Your kids are ready and willing to work hard! These work groups are bonding together and it is so fun to see them forming new friendships. Their attitude has been so positive and their humor is hilarious ;-)

Another blessings is seeing our students interacting with the community members of Woodlawn...hearing stories, sharing experiences, listening and learning from them.

In the afternoon we headed out to the financial district of Chicago. Students had the opportunity to engage in conversation and share a meal with someone from the homeless community. Ask them about this when they get home! They were so excited to share about who they met and the stories they heard. Some of the groups had members of the homeless community pray over them. I heard students say, every person has a story and reasons for why they are where they are at...I hadn't thought about that before...I hadn't seen this before. God is at work in them....He is changing them, stretching them, expanding their perspective. Keep praying!

During our evening teaching session our group dug deep into a conversation about economic poverty. Many of them were surprised at the many pathways to poverty there are and how many of these pathways are outside of an individual's control. They are thinking, they are wrestling, and I could not be more proud of them for their willingness to enter into these conversations and topics.

Keep the comments coming...reading them is a highlight!

All is well.

Lauren

Monday and Service Groups!

Good Morning from Woodlawn!

Monday was our first service day! These groups will serve together every morning this week and there are 4  groups this year. 1 group is serving at a local elementary school and they are helping with any tasks that the school needs as they wrap up the school year as well as participate in gym and recess with the students! One group is serving at Living Hope Church by painting and preparing an apartment for one of their community initiatives, repairing donated bikes, and doing maintenance projects to prepare for their summer youth programs. The third group is working on a community gardening and beautification project that includes both landscaping and art! The fourth group served at Sunshine yesterday to assist with cleaning and organizing projects and today they begin work on renovations for a newly purchased house including landscaping and construction.

The groups are listed below so you can be praying for them!

After service groups, we toured Pacific Garden Mission, which is the largest homeless shelter in the country, to learn more about how this ministry is striving to be the hands and feet of Jesus by caring for the poor.

At our evening session we had a time of worship through music and we were blessed to hear a message from Joel Hamernick and his passion and love for the city shone through his message from Jeremiah 29 on seeking the shalom of the city.

It was an awesome first day of service. We beat the heat and the kids are doing great!

Thanks for your prayers and support!

-Lauren

Elementary School Group
Leaders: Anna Maria, Hamdi, Doug
1. Lena K
2. Faith R
3. Quinn S
4. Connor M
5. Drew H
6. Tatum B
7. Sammi M
8. Sydney K
9. Trent K
10. Emma S
11. Suzy S
12. Britta C
13. Hayley A
14. Kathryn M
15. Oliver F
16. Sami L
17. Annika L

Living Hope Group
Leaders: Joel and Kathy
1. Grace T
2. Anna F
3. Abbie G
4. Ellicia W
5. Dana B
6. Corinne E
7. Kiernan M
8. Ellie J
9. Austin M
10. Sydney H

Community Gardening/Beautification Group
Leaders: Jen and Alayne
1. Gillian N
2. Greta B
3. Michaela E
4. David B
5. Reed K
6. Noah J
7. Grace W
8. Allie P
9. Jamie S
10. Carly M

Sunshine/House Renovation Group
Leaders: Heidi and Pepe
1. Aja A
2. Jackson P
3. Eric T
4. Ally B
5. Katie S
6. Josh K
7. Rebecca M
8. Aidan St. G
9. Josh T
10. Bailey P

Sunday was a great day!

Sunday we got to explore the awesome city of Chicago!

Our day began by attending Sunday service at Christ Bible Church. The students loved how they were welcomed by the congregation! It was an awesome time of worship and teaching. 

From there we went to Millennium Park to explore The Bean, fountains, and sculptures! Afterwards we enjoyed lunch at Navy Pier and headed to the Skydeck at Willis Tower! There were hardly any clouds so the view from the top of the Skydeck was amazing. We ended our time there with a devotional by the Southside windows.

We then went back to Sunshine for dinner and our welcome orientation with Sunshine. The students got to meet Jared Hamernick, Joel Hamernick's son and director of our program this week, and they are ready to jump into the ministry that Sunshine is doing. 

After an awesome day....they were fast asleep by 11pm. ;-)

Thank you so much for your prayer support! You can also support and encourage our team by leaving comments (either a specific note to your student or a note to the entire team!) We read them out loud at meal times...so fun!

Keep praying for us!

Love from the 2017 Chicago Team!

-Lauren

We Made It!

The Chicago Fam 2017 is here and we are so excited to be in Chicago!

Everything went great with our travel day. We celebrated arriving in Chicago with a walk to Union Station and some of the best deep dish pizza at Giordano's! 

We then headed over to Sunshine Gospel Ministries where we spent the night. After our time of worship, prayer, and solo devotional time we had an early lights out at 10:30 to get ready for our day today.

We're up early today getting ready for church! Then we are in for an awesome day exploring the city of Chicago. Pictures to come!

Keep praying for us! You can sign up to pray for us here. 

For His Glory!

Lauren