Saturday, June 26, 2010
Saturday Recap
Hey family and friends! Today was another spiritually stretching day for our team! We ventured on a prayer walk throughout downtown Chicago! If you aren't quite sure what a prayer walk is exactly, we'll explain. We split up into our small groups again and took over the exact same routes we had for feeding the homeless; on those routes we stopped to pray for each and every building. We prayed not only for the people who worked in that building but each and every person that walked through the doors.
We had the chance to witness something pretty amazing in our group today. As we were walking through the streets, we were all focused on praying for the buildings, except one of our students was focused on a little more. Austin Sommers felt God calling him to walk up and pray for homeless people as well. So each person we passed sitting on the streets, Austin stopped right away, knelt down and prayed with them! Not every group had the opportunity to witness this, which is why we are so blessed we were able to. That is just one of the MANY examples of why our students are so flippin awesome!!
After an amazing and wonderful day around the streets of downtown Chicago, we headed back to the hotel to clean up for dinner and another surprise. We then headed back downtown to eat dinner at Giordanos (which was amazing!!) After dinner we were told we were headed somewhere for a team surprise! After a nice stroll downtown, we headed up to the Sears Tower (now known as the Willis Tower), and up to the Skydeck! Our team was thrilled! The whole team really enjoyed looking over the city at 103 stories in the air! Some of us even enjoyed the thrill of standing on the glass ledge! It was quite an experience!
Another crazy, awesome day is now at a close! Tomorrow is the end for us, but our team is ready to make every second count! This has been a pretty amazing trip for everyone! God is so good!!!
-Nicole, Brittany, & Jessica
We had the chance to witness something pretty amazing in our group today. As we were walking through the streets, we were all focused on praying for the buildings, except one of our students was focused on a little more. Austin Sommers felt God calling him to walk up and pray for homeless people as well. So each person we passed sitting on the streets, Austin stopped right away, knelt down and prayed with them! Not every group had the opportunity to witness this, which is why we are so blessed we were able to. That is just one of the MANY examples of why our students are so flippin awesome!!
After an amazing and wonderful day around the streets of downtown Chicago, we headed back to the hotel to clean up for dinner and another surprise. We then headed back downtown to eat dinner at Giordanos (which was amazing!!) After dinner we were told we were headed somewhere for a team surprise! After a nice stroll downtown, we headed up to the Sears Tower (now known as the Willis Tower), and up to the Skydeck! Our team was thrilled! The whole team really enjoyed looking over the city at 103 stories in the air! Some of us even enjoyed the thrill of standing on the glass ledge! It was quite an experience!
Another crazy, awesome day is now at a close! Tomorrow is the end for us, but our team is ready to make every second count! This has been a pretty amazing trip for everyone! God is so good!!!
-Nicole, Brittany, & Jessica
Friday, June 25, 2010
Day 4 Recap
Hey everyone back home! Day 4 was another wonderful work day for us! We headed back to the same site we were at on Wednesday to work with Blitz Build again. Mike and his crew were so happy to have us back, and we as well were super pumped! When our team arrived back at the site the brick crew jumped right back into it to finish what they had started and everyone else received new projects and got to work!
One of the new, fun projects for the day was uprooting trees and bushes to put in different landscape, it was a challenge but they had a blast with it! Another was to work on insulation for the houses basement, which was also quite a challenge, but worth the work! A new favorite to watch and partake in was sledge-hammering things, which I was fortunate enough to do for a little while. Everyone worked extremely hard, and then whenever asked to start another job or stop what they were doing, there were never any complaints! Our team is so awesome!
Today besides the normal Blitz Build crew, we were joined by a pastor who works with them and another crew from Willow Creek, they were also astounded with our team's ability not only to get the jobs done but to get them done right, well and quickly! Another really cool thing we had the chance of doing was writing blessing/prayers on the side of the house before they put up the siding, which was a cool blessing for us and the family who will live there.
Our students and leaders absolutely killed all the work projects today, and did it with huge smiles on their faces. We once again received a huge amount of gratitude from Mike and his crew as we were leaving. It was an absolute blessing working with that wonderful team, they poured so much energy and life into our team as we worked, which made it a pretty successful work day!
After leaving the site our team enjoyed a few fun rounds of the game Mafia on the bus to pass the time, which is always a blast for us. After getting to the hotel, we cleaned up and headed to dinner to get ready for the team fun night we had planned later on! Our team has worked so great all week, we knew we all deserved a fun night to play around! After dinner the time had come for our fun night, which we would participate in the wonderful, crazy, awesome game of Whirley Ball! Now Whirly Ball is a combination of the sports; lacrosse, hockey, polo, and basketball, BUT all while sitting in bumper cars! I'm sure you can imagine how much fun we had with that! There will be plenty of pictures to prove it! So once again we had an outstanding day! God is blessing this team so much with everything we are doing, as well as blessing everything around us! Although our week is coming to a close, we have two strong days left and we are so ready to continue doing God's work for his kingdom!
-Nicole
One of the new, fun projects for the day was uprooting trees and bushes to put in different landscape, it was a challenge but they had a blast with it! Another was to work on insulation for the houses basement, which was also quite a challenge, but worth the work! A new favorite to watch and partake in was sledge-hammering things, which I was fortunate enough to do for a little while. Everyone worked extremely hard, and then whenever asked to start another job or stop what they were doing, there were never any complaints! Our team is so awesome!
Today besides the normal Blitz Build crew, we were joined by a pastor who works with them and another crew from Willow Creek, they were also astounded with our team's ability not only to get the jobs done but to get them done right, well and quickly! Another really cool thing we had the chance of doing was writing blessing/prayers on the side of the house before they put up the siding, which was a cool blessing for us and the family who will live there.
Our students and leaders absolutely killed all the work projects today, and did it with huge smiles on their faces. We once again received a huge amount of gratitude from Mike and his crew as we were leaving. It was an absolute blessing working with that wonderful team, they poured so much energy and life into our team as we worked, which made it a pretty successful work day!
After leaving the site our team enjoyed a few fun rounds of the game Mafia on the bus to pass the time, which is always a blast for us. After getting to the hotel, we cleaned up and headed to dinner to get ready for the team fun night we had planned later on! Our team has worked so great all week, we knew we all deserved a fun night to play around! After dinner the time had come for our fun night, which we would participate in the wonderful, crazy, awesome game of Whirley Ball! Now Whirly Ball is a combination of the sports; lacrosse, hockey, polo, and basketball, BUT all while sitting in bumper cars! I'm sure you can imagine how much fun we had with that! There will be plenty of pictures to prove it! So once again we had an outstanding day! God is blessing this team so much with everything we are doing, as well as blessing everything around us! Although our week is coming to a close, we have two strong days left and we are so ready to continue doing God's work for his kingdom!
-Nicole
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Day 3 Recap
Hey everybody, it's John here and what a day it was! Today was a new experience for all of us and it was amazing to see what God did in it. We visited Little India today and spent our time with Sunita from the South Asian Friendship Center (SAFC). SAFC is a long time partner of GCC and all GCC India teams visit SAFC and Little India before their trips. There weren't any work projects set for today but instead a "vision trip" was planned to experience, observe and understand the Indian culture and the ways that SAFC is reaching out to that community with the hope and love of Jesus.
Some of the ways that happened was through explanations of SAFC's vision and methodology of friendship evangelism, a scavenger hunt through the main shopping street and an authentic Indian dinner. Something new that we tried this year was taking the team to visit a Hindu temple not to worship or experience, but to simply observe. We were extremely cautious on the planning side of things and even more prepared through prayer. Our time there was spent listening to Israel (the Hindu man in the first few pictures) explain his Hindu beliefs. It was amazing to watch as our students asked questions in a non-offensive way that poked through the holes and circular logic that was being used as they all pushed towards the truth we know in Jesus. We spent about 30-45 minutes at the temple and throughout the entire experience our students had a physical discomfort or uneasiness about being there. There was a recognition that the purpose of that temple and the practices done there were not honoring to God and because our students carry Jesus in them so strongly wherever they go it was evident.
After we got back to SAFC Pastor Aneel led us through a Satsang. A Satsang is a Hindi-contextualized worship service that honors the One True God, not the 330 million Hindu gods. Just like the temple there was incense and we sat on rugs on the floor and there was chanting. The difference is the chants were worship songs translated into Hindi and the message given was about following Jesus. The Satsang is meant to reach out to Hindus and those with an Indian background and reach them with the religious practices that feel normal to them. In all reality it's very similar to the approach we take at GCC to contextualize the Good News in a way that can be heard. It was an amazing experience to worship God with Sunita and Aneel and his family. We even ended with our team sharing one of our worship songs!
As we spent time debriefing the day with the team every single student and leader agreed that it was an incredibly stretching day but it was clear it was a day that helped everyone own their faith more and stand firm in the truth that we all hold. Everyone seemed to enjoy the Indian food (supplemented with a snack run to Walmart on the way home) and then we had some team pool time to unwind the long day.
Tomorrow, it's back to the Blitz Build!
-John
Some of the ways that happened was through explanations of SAFC's vision and methodology of friendship evangelism, a scavenger hunt through the main shopping street and an authentic Indian dinner. Something new that we tried this year was taking the team to visit a Hindu temple not to worship or experience, but to simply observe. We were extremely cautious on the planning side of things and even more prepared through prayer. Our time there was spent listening to Israel (the Hindu man in the first few pictures) explain his Hindu beliefs. It was amazing to watch as our students asked questions in a non-offensive way that poked through the holes and circular logic that was being used as they all pushed towards the truth we know in Jesus. We spent about 30-45 minutes at the temple and throughout the entire experience our students had a physical discomfort or uneasiness about being there. There was a recognition that the purpose of that temple and the practices done there were not honoring to God and because our students carry Jesus in them so strongly wherever they go it was evident.
After we got back to SAFC Pastor Aneel led us through a Satsang. A Satsang is a Hindi-contextualized worship service that honors the One True God, not the 330 million Hindu gods. Just like the temple there was incense and we sat on rugs on the floor and there was chanting. The difference is the chants were worship songs translated into Hindi and the message given was about following Jesus. The Satsang is meant to reach out to Hindus and those with an Indian background and reach them with the religious practices that feel normal to them. In all reality it's very similar to the approach we take at GCC to contextualize the Good News in a way that can be heard. It was an amazing experience to worship God with Sunita and Aneel and his family. We even ended with our team sharing one of our worship songs!
As we spent time debriefing the day with the team every single student and leader agreed that it was an incredibly stretching day but it was clear it was a day that helped everyone own their faith more and stand firm in the truth that we all hold. Everyone seemed to enjoy the Indian food (supplemented with a snack run to Walmart on the way home) and then we had some team pool time to unwind the long day.
Tomorrow, it's back to the Blitz Build!
-John
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Wednesday Recap
Day Two was a success! At the start of our day we had a lot of rain, which continued throughout the first half an hour we spent at our work site. We worked with an organization called BlitzBuild that is run by Willow Creek Church, but the specific site we worked at happened to partner with a house from Habitat for humanity. They were re-building a house that was burnt down a few years ago for a family who really needed it. Our job was to do anything their team asked us to do to help them in any way.
For safety purposes the minors in our group were assigned to specific jobs, which they had a blast with! Their job was to attack a gigantic pile of bricks and do things like separating the pieces from whole ones, to hammering off cement that covered the whole thing. Although they were limited to certain jobs, they handled it great! Every time anyone looked over at that area, there were plenty of smiles and laughter (which you will definitely see in the pictures.) Everyone 18 and above did a variety of different projects such as; putting shingles on a roof, to sledge hammering things, to pulling nails out of wood. Although our team was scattered throughout the property, we never lacked any encouragement!
I personally had the privilege of talking with Blitzbuild’s leader, Mike for a while about our team. He was asking about our church and what other kind of stuff we do as a church. But he also asked if any of us were on staff at the church and what variety of ages we had in our group. He was astounded by the fact that we were all volunteers and we had people anywhere from adults to middle school students. He was so impressed with how our students gave everything they had doing whatever job they took on. He was amazed that middle schoolers worked as hard as ours did without one single complaint! Do we have some amazing students or what?! Everyone worked their butts off all day long, and it paid off! Mike informed me that we got much more accomplished than he had expected we would do. As we were leaving we had the blessing of actually meeting the family that would be living in the house. You could just see the gratitude on their faces and how thankful they were to have so many people helping them out, even in the smallest ways. It was really awesome!
The day ended with some dinner, and our usual team debriefing. All the students and leaders were very blessed to have been a part of such a cool cause and to have helped out a wonderful family! Now, because of all the difficult, physical labor that was done today the team is pretty wiped out and ready for bed! We appreciate all the prayers and support from all of you back home, it means the world to us! So thank you! God is everywhere on this trip so far and each day is a new experience and a new adventure! We are thrilled to continue on this journey and cannot wait to see what God has in store for all of us tomorrow! Goodnight!
-Nicole
For safety purposes the minors in our group were assigned to specific jobs, which they had a blast with! Their job was to attack a gigantic pile of bricks and do things like separating the pieces from whole ones, to hammering off cement that covered the whole thing. Although they were limited to certain jobs, they handled it great! Every time anyone looked over at that area, there were plenty of smiles and laughter (which you will definitely see in the pictures.) Everyone 18 and above did a variety of different projects such as; putting shingles on a roof, to sledge hammering things, to pulling nails out of wood. Although our team was scattered throughout the property, we never lacked any encouragement!
I personally had the privilege of talking with Blitzbuild’s leader, Mike for a while about our team. He was asking about our church and what other kind of stuff we do as a church. But he also asked if any of us were on staff at the church and what variety of ages we had in our group. He was astounded by the fact that we were all volunteers and we had people anywhere from adults to middle school students. He was so impressed with how our students gave everything they had doing whatever job they took on. He was amazed that middle schoolers worked as hard as ours did without one single complaint! Do we have some amazing students or what?! Everyone worked their butts off all day long, and it paid off! Mike informed me that we got much more accomplished than he had expected we would do. As we were leaving we had the blessing of actually meeting the family that would be living in the house. You could just see the gratitude on their faces and how thankful they were to have so many people helping them out, even in the smallest ways. It was really awesome!
The day ended with some dinner, and our usual team debriefing. All the students and leaders were very blessed to have been a part of such a cool cause and to have helped out a wonderful family! Now, because of all the difficult, physical labor that was done today the team is pretty wiped out and ready for bed! We appreciate all the prayers and support from all of you back home, it means the world to us! So thank you! God is everywhere on this trip so far and each day is a new experience and a new adventure! We are thrilled to continue on this journey and cannot wait to see what God has in store for all of us tomorrow! Goodnight!
-Nicole
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Tuesday Recap
Hey everyone! We officially kicked off the Chicago 2010 Mission Trip! Nicole here and I have the privilege of telling you all about the amazing first day we had. Throughout our team meetings and all the preparation for this trip one of our main focuses was on the amount of flexibility our team has. Flexibility, when it comes to changes in the schedule and just anything different that could happen on a mission’s trip. Ironically enough that was the first challenge we were faced with as a team. We were possibly supposed to start on a work project today but things were changed on the bus ride to the city. Our leader, Jordan, announced that we would be walking around the city feeding the homeless today instead. The team handled it perfectly, no one complained or questioned the change, and everyone just went with it and was excited to start!
Once we arrived in the city we parked the bus and got off to start making lunches. Each person made three bags, one for themselves; with a sandwich, chips, cookies and water and then two other bags with two sandwiches, chips, cookies and water. After we ate our lunches we split up into our small groups and were each assigned a few streets inside the city. An adult male was also assigned to each group for safety purposes.
Although I wasn’t with every group today we debriefed at the end and talked about all of our experiences. One of the biggest things that were consistent in each group was the surprise at the amount of faith in some of the people on the street. The team was moved by each person’s attitudes and encouragement. It was wonderful to see not only our team giving out love and encouragement but also receiving it by the people we met today. Another thing that was very evident in every group today was the willingness by the students to walk up to a total stranger on the street, give them a meal and pray for them. But our students were phenomenal! They jumped right in and gave it everything they had, and I know that’s one thing as a leadership team, we were all very impressed with.
After spending a wonderful, life changing day talking with people downtown, we headed back on the bus for the hotel. Everything went great with our check in to our hotel. We had a little free time to swim, relax and hangout before heading to dinner. After dinner, we got together one last time for the night to debrief on the day and talk about what God was doing so far in us and through us. Right now we are all tucked safely in our beds preparing our bodies, hearts and minds for all the amazing things God has in store for us tomorrow! So until then, goodnight!
Once we arrived in the city we parked the bus and got off to start making lunches. Each person made three bags, one for themselves; with a sandwich, chips, cookies and water and then two other bags with two sandwiches, chips, cookies and water. After we ate our lunches we split up into our small groups and were each assigned a few streets inside the city. An adult male was also assigned to each group for safety purposes.
Although I wasn’t with every group today we debriefed at the end and talked about all of our experiences. One of the biggest things that were consistent in each group was the surprise at the amount of faith in some of the people on the street. The team was moved by each person’s attitudes and encouragement. It was wonderful to see not only our team giving out love and encouragement but also receiving it by the people we met today. Another thing that was very evident in every group today was the willingness by the students to walk up to a total stranger on the street, give them a meal and pray for them. But our students were phenomenal! They jumped right in and gave it everything they had, and I know that’s one thing as a leadership team, we were all very impressed with.
After spending a wonderful, life changing day talking with people downtown, we headed back on the bus for the hotel. Everything went great with our check in to our hotel. We had a little free time to swim, relax and hangout before heading to dinner. After dinner, we got together one last time for the night to debrief on the day and talk about what God was doing so far in us and through us. Right now we are all tucked safely in our beds preparing our bodies, hearts and minds for all the amazing things God has in store for us tomorrow! So until then, goodnight!
Monday, June 21, 2010
Thoughts Before the Trip
So it's almost 10 pm the night before the Chicago '10 mission trip. We had our packing party a few hours ago and went over some of the final details and then spent some time praying over this trip. The leaders of the trip hung around a little bit longer and covered a few more details to make sure we're all ready. And we are. We're ready with schedules, maps, hotel contracts, bus driver and most importantly for many of the students plenty of food! But beyond that we're ready for whatever God has in store, we're ready for God to reach into our comfortable lives and make us uncomfortable, we're ready for God to show us how He sees others. We're ready for the unknown, the unpredictable and the unplanned. We're ready to be broken and poured out so that other people can know that they matter to a God who is running to them. We are ready.
-John
-John
Sunday, April 11, 2010
REMINDER-Team Meeting
Hey Chicago '10 team! Just a quick reminder that we've got a team meeting this Tuesday night, April 13th. We'll be meeting from 6:30-8:30 pm in the Great Room at GCC!
Remember to bring your journal and folder!
See ya then!
Remember to bring your journal and folder!
See ya then!
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