We Have Wi-Fi!!!

Right of the top, allow me to apologize for the blog silence. After two days of being able to connect at Starbucks in the mornings, all of a sudden they switched out their equipment and I was unable to get online at all yesterday. It was looking like more of the same today, but the barista here - Brittany, who happens to be a part of an eight-month-old church plant in the area - was able to connect me on the North Park network. WOO-HOO!!! This may be the last post until after the trip is over, however, since we leave tomorrow morning and I will not have a chance to post then. I wish I had been able to post more this week, but stuff happens, right?

Some of you read a little about The Immersion experience that some of our students have had (the others are scheduled to do it today). I gave a very brief and uninformed description of it (I say 'uninformed' because I have not done it). I understand that some of you have expressed concern about this activity. Allow me to say that I would never willingly or knowingly put any of your kids in harm's way. If I had thought this activity was unwise or unsafe, I would not let them do it. That being said, my knowledge of it is still limited, so I asked a few of the people that have done it to share with you about it. Here is what they had to say:

• Shelly (SIMY): It was awesome - students felt it was reassuring and made the city more inviting. Leader was present, students felt they were more in charge and had a wonderful experience learning about public transportation. They enjoyed getting to know the people and finding out about Chicago. No begging but asking to work to get a better meal. They worked together to become closer. They wanted more time. Very safe area they sent us to. No one ever felt like they were uncomfortable. Great experience. Our group is still talking about it and loved the experience.


• Chris (SIMY): The Immersion into city has been an experience that I believe will have an everlasting impact on my life as well as the students'. We traveled on public transportation to one of the most prominent neighborhoods in Chicago along the Magnificent Mile, where we played out the scenario of being immigrants new to the Chicago area. With only two dollars for the each of us (Kara, Miranda, Blake O., Myles, and myself), we were to find dinner and places that a family would stay. Dinner did not come easily. Outside of the "Dollar Menu" at the McDonald's, it would be relatively impossible to keep a family fed for two dollars per person. The five of us were able to split two hot dogs, fry, and a bag of chips. Least to say that none of us felt fulfilled after that meal. Along with the search for food, we talked with several people who informed us that most of the shelters for the homeless had closed down in this area. It was brutal reality that slapped us in the face. The overall "Immersion into City" was an excellent experience that opened all of our eyes and our hearts. The need for help in this city is growing which made us become more aware of places even closer to home, if not home.


• Anthony: When we did the Immersion activity, we were given $2 for lunch/dinner and they gave us a transportation pass to get around on the L train and buses. We were supposed to act like teen runaways. The activity was an amazing experience! I'm so glad we were able to do this. They sent us to very good places and if we were getting too off-track the leader would tell us. I've learned that being homeless in Chicago is very, very hard, and to get a job and pay for an apartment is almost impossible for them. In my opinion it showed us the real world and showed me how spoiled I am. In no way was I worried or concerned about where we were. Kids younger than 9 are out on the streets...so I see no reason we can't do it for 3 hours.

If you had concerns as a parent, I hope this sets those aside. If not, I would ask for your trust in this venture, and for your patience to not pass judgment until you have heard a first-hand report from your own child. Thanks!

On Wednesday, I had every intention of leaving the apartment (finally) to go to a ministry site, since my illness had kept me cooped up. However, Derek woke up with a bad headache and stomachache and he couldn't go. Thinking it unwise and unsafe and a potential threat to my job as a youth pastor to leave him behind by himself, I stayed back to hang with him. If he woke up and started feeling better, I would have taken him to his site, but he didn't wake up until his team returned that afternoon. So I got some reading done and got to know my bedroom even better.

That evening, we went to Lou Malnati's for deep dish pizza. The story behind this place was interesting. It is a chain of Chicago-style pizza, and a pastor who started a church and was doing ministry in the Lawndale area (a rough part of Chicago) asked them to open a shop there. They were hesitant, but eventually gave in, and now all of their proceeds go to this church and its ministries. Pretty cool...and yummy! It destroyed my stomach, but that's OK.

After dinner we went to the Chicago Food Depository. This is a huge warehouse that supplies food to all of the shelters and food pantries in Chicago (a LOT of them). Our students would be helping to fill emergency food boxes. The work required wearing long pants, which Derek didn't have. I didn't find this out until we were there. I wanted him to work and not sit this out, too, so I asked him what size pants he wore: 32". I told him that he could try trading with me and I would sit out. The problem: I wear a size 35". We went to the bathroom and managed to trade trousers. I haven't put on size 32" anything in a LONG time! Let's just say it wasn't helping my upset stomach at all. but Derek got to work, so it was worth it. Our crew packed 847 emergency food boxes, which I think is pretty good!

That night I met with a different group for debriefing. Here are a couple of nuggets from that conversation:

• Matt - he shared about being scared about not taking this experience home and having it make a difference


• Danny - he was very vulnerable about his life and about how your positivity or negativity towards someone else can affect someone for a very long time


• Hillary - she expressed being very thankful for the foundation she received by her parents sending her to and being educated in a private Christian school


• Nate - he said that is not thankful enough for the blessings he has every day


• Sydnei L. - she said that this experience has made her want to bring God to these people


• Cori - she talked about wanting to bring hope

It was a great conversation, and I challenged them to find a way to take it home, that it's not enough to have a great week and that's it. I would encourage you parents and SIMYs to help fan the flames in their hearts when they get home so that they don't burn out.

Yesterday, I finally made it to a ministry site. WOO-HOO!!! I went with Team Wrigley to the Circle Rock School, an almost year-round school. Our students were helping to tutor and teach in the classroom. The environment was very strict, which I had a difficult time with. Windall said he had the same thought at the beginning of the week, but he (and I) realized that it was probably exactly what these kids needed...and it worked! I helped tutor the kindergartners with David and Kylie, the first-graders with Shelby and Meredith, stopped in to see Jacob and Matt (they weren't given much to do, unfortunately), listened as Lauren, Zach, and Windall read stories, and heard stories from Karen about how she was able to teach science to the fifth graders. Our group did some great work! And the students really latched onto them. It was neat to witness.

After a short jaunt to the beach, everyone that is serving with CSM - about 175 of us - gathered on the North Park campus for a time of games and tacos. We hung out and ate and played together. It was very fun and to see that many people that came to the city to serve. After we ate we went into the chapel for a time of corporate worship and we listened to a speaker from the city. Then our team grabbed a section of lawn to debrief. I posed the three-part question: What is the thing you experienced/did this week that captured your attention? How did it make you feel? So what? There were too many great responses to remember, and I wasn't jotting them down, so you'll have to ask your child about that. But one thing that stood out to me was what Morgan said. She talked about how she has had to break out of her comfort zone this week in the sense that she is interacting with kids so different from her in the sense that they haven't received nearly the same amount of care that she has received. And she ended by saying that she is concerned about being "just another person that leaves" out of the life of these kids. It was heartbreaking. I don't know what to do with that. The best thing we can do, as Lauren pointed out, is to continue to be involved in their lives by continuing to pray for them. Good words.

After the debriefing I had two really good conversations with two students who are really being affected by this trip and what God is teaching them and showing them through it. They were pretty personal, so I won't divulge the details here, but I would again strongly encourage parents and SIMYs to ask questions and talk with the students when they get back. Don't just ask how the trip was; ask them how they were affected by it and what difference it will make in their lives. Then look for ways to encourage them along those lines. If they tell you that they want to grow closer to God, help them find resources to do so, and ask them how it's going. If they say that they want to serve more at home, help them find serving opportunities. They need your help to bring it home.

A side note: If I never again hear the words "El conejo!" or the song "Mmm, Bop" again, it will be too soon. You can ask what that means when you pick your child up on Saturday.

There will be more pictures uploaded soon. Keep checking back. And we look forward to seeing you tomorrow!

And...We're Here!

I know what you're thinking. Haven't you been there for a day and a half already? What's the deal? We are concerned parents and SIMYs and want to know what is going on with our kids. Well, a serious flu tends to set one back just a bit, and since I had one yesterday, I will use that as my excuse. So I'm sorry for the delay in updating, but please know that the cause is justified. Let's just say that I didn't leave my bed for the better part of 32 hours. No fun. But today, I am at least mobile enough to find some wifi to give you some updates. They may be sketchy since I haven't had much of an opportunity to interact with the teams, but I'll do what I can.

We made fantastic time getting to Chicago...at least until we hit Chicago traffic, that is. We started off the day leaving Shelly behind with the cargo van to bring Morgan late. Apparently there was a breakdown in communication and she didn't know what time we were leaving. She felt really bad about it, but it was no sweat. They caught up to us at lunch time. I do think we set an all-time La Croix record by going at least 3 1/2 hours without a potty break. That certainly was better than last year when we didn't even make it out of Cape without having to stop, or whenever we take a staff trip and can't even make it to St. Louis without stopping. Then when we got to just outside of Chicago, we called the CSM folk and told them that we were going to be there early, not taking the Chicago traffic into consideration. It turned out that we got there just on time. Overall, a really good trip up.

After getting our stuff put away in the appropriate apartments (we are staying in campus housing for North Park University - not the nicest pads in the world, but a lot better than some of the places we have stayed in for mission trips) and getting oriented, we went out to dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant. That is one of the features of CSM - they let you experience the culture by eating some of the cultural foods (one or two groups ate at an Ethiopian restaurant last night). For dinner that first night, we ate huge bowls of soup with either chicken, beef, or tofu, some spices and vegetables, and the biggest ball of noodles I have ever seen (I will try to have pictures uploaded today). It was pretty yummy!

After dinner we went on a prayer tour of the city. This was really good not only in the aspect of being able to pray for various aspects of the city - racism, poverty, homelessness, gentrification - but also in the educational aspect. As we drove through the various neighborhoods in the city, our host would give us pertinent information and history about it, such as the great disparity in income between the African-Americans and the whites, or the difference in graduation rates, or how white flight has affected certain areas. I think it was really good for our students to hear this information before setting out to serve so that they were better oriented with some of the problems and issues. (One side note that came out of that and our debriefing for that night was the unconfortability our students show with praying out loud. That's just a youth pastor concern, I guess.) After that, we debriefed the experience with our hosts and settled down for the night. A good first day.

I went to bed on Sunday night feeling a little queasy in my stomach, and woke up feeling very achy and fevery. What a great way to start out the mission week! So I hung back while the teams left in the morning to serve. It is a great feeling to know that I have such capable people with me that I can be laid up and not have to worry about whose hands our kids are in. We have such great SIMYs with us who love to serve and love your kids. Know that they are well taken care of.

I didn't get much of a report from day one since I was in bed, but everyone I talked with seemed to have a good day. We had one group set up a thrift store for an organization. Chris said that he wished that they had taken a before picture so we could see the difference that we made. I guess that means we did a good job! A couple of our groups played Bingo with some senior citizens at nursing homes. Apparently, some of the women at these homes were pretty cutthroat about their Bingo. Team Sears served at Casa Central and played with kids. Some of these kids were pretty rough; Derek got cussed out a bit. But they still had a good time, and were looking forward to playing with the parachute today that Nate brought. And Team Gino was the first team to experience the Immersion. In this experience, each team member is given $2.00 for dinner, and they have to try to come up with more. The goal is to help them know what it feels like to be an immigrant or runaway teen in the city. So they tried everything: begging, selling hoodies, offering to work at a bagel shop, and offering to sweep hair at a salon. The ones I talked with said that it was a really great experience. One of them said, "Begging is not as easy as it looks." I think it will be something that they will never forget. The other two teams will have their Immersion on Friday night.

There's not a lot else to report today, but hopefully now that I am somewhat mobile (I'm still not going out to a site today - I'm not close to 100% and am using today to recuperate) there will be more to come. Again, I will try to post pictures today or tomorrow morning at our Flickr site. And to close, here are some random things seen and heard:

• On the van ride up, Sydney Ozbun found one of those little individual flossing tools in the van. We were all pretty grossed out, but not nearly as much as when she actually used it to floss when I offered her a nickel. You would think she would have been the one to get sick. I still owe her a nickel...
• Someone in the van said something about a loofah. Meredith said, "Loofah? Isn't that when a Jewish boy becomes a man?" Yes Meredith, and a bar mitzvah is a sponge that you use in the shower...
• I told the people in my van that we would not be having corporate worship every night like we did with YouthWorks. Someone asked, "What will we do?" Morgan said, "We'll have to tolerate each other, that's what we'll do!"
• It looks like Derek and Taylor have some cleaning to do as it appears they emptied the contents of their stuffed animals on Shelby's bed...
• Chris called me this morning to let me know that Drew said, "I could die with a snow cone in my hand and I'd be happy."

Parents, thank you again for allowing us the opportunity to take your child(ren) to this strange world to serve Jesus by serving people. Pray that they can make a difference, and that a difference will be made in them...