Here is a link to the New Life Family Center where Pastor Steve, Cody , Sami, and Kyra Worked during our YouthWorks week.

http://www.nlcenters.org/

Their Vision

Within each community we serve, New Life Centers seeks to empower this generation to transform the next. Working alongside our neighbors, we seek to define the community’s greatest needs and assets, building programs that utilize strengths to overcome weaknesses. Believing that families are our youth’s greatest influence, we empower family members to realize Christ’s best for their own lives, modeling effective professional and personal lives to their children. At the same time, we equip youth with the tutoring, mentoring, job training, and relationship knowledge necessary to walk their own path to a full, successful life.

We envision a city where joyful, productive families, supported by the community, equip youth with the vision and skills to live in fullness of life.

It was a long and fun day.  Youth works was great, but I think it was a good time to leave.  I was ready to see more of the city.  So far, I had mostly seen the poorer parts of town, but it was good to see the high-end part too.  We have a pretty cool crash pad too.  This church is really nice, and the pastor was very welcoming.  -Kyra

I got to use my impersonations more than I have in … um… I’m guessing years ~ David

I probably enjoyed today more than any other day…except for the day I was attacked by a ferocious bunny.  That was cool.  We went to the Museum of Science and Industry and that was amazing.  We drove the wrong way on a one-way street.  David and I did impersonations.  I also almost killed Cody by falling on him.  -Sincerely, Kurt

On are last day we got to duct tape our leaders but I felt bad and helped them escape. When we were done we went to the beach and we had a lot of fun.

Youth works was so great and I hope we can do one of these things again we had a lot of great experiences fun.  I miss youth works! ~ Chelsea

We Toured the museum of Science and Industry down in Hyde Park today.  God made an amazing universe We human beings have learned a lot about it with our gift of reason and science.  That museum always brings me to a place of amazement about tall that.  As we walked around on Navy Pier amongst the teaming throngs I enjoyed noticing the diversity of people.  I found myself wondering about their lives and praying for their wellbeing.  A lot of walking today!  I am glad to be safely done with downtown driving : – )  ~ Steve

We went to museum of Science and Industry and there were a lot of cool things there. There was a miniature Chicago city in one of the parts of the museum. There was a lot of interaction stuff also. We also went to the Navy Pier. 6 blocks away from where we parked! My feet hurt from all the walking. My back hurts right now. I can’t wait to get home tomorrow. I miss everyone. Even Jon. We ate at Ihop for breakfast. I am really tired. And David was really funny today with his impersonations. Good night ~Sami

Today was busy in a sightseeing way; traffic snarls, parking perils and masses of people. We made it through all with patience and laughter. The museum was great, with many fascinating exhibits. Navy Pier was very busy with people eating, playing, shopping and having fun. We had a long day of walking and I think we will all sleep very well tonight. *Linnae

Writing this evening from a lovely beach with a great view of of the Chicago skyline.  The Kids are in the water enjoying some recreation after a week of hard work.  This will be our last night of the Youthworks part of our trip.  Let’s summarize:

Today we left our new friends at our Youthworks site.  We were up early to pack and clean the building.  Then a quick stand up breakfast and a closing prayer and we duct taped the four Youthworks staff together (which was the prize for selling over 100 tee shirts to support Youth Enterprise.)  Youth enterprise is a Minneapolis organization that helps inner city kids learn job skills.

We went for a quick tour of Eden Place for those of our group that wanted to see what we had been hearing about all week from the part of our group that worked

Then we went to visit the ELCA headquarters and learned about the wide reach of the mission of our church.

We had lunch in Chinatown.  Most of us ate too much.

We drove around for a while INSANE TRAFFIC because of big event in the city.  WE ended up at the beach for a couple of hours of just chillin’.  Waded through some more INSANE downtown rush traffic on the way to the Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower).

Now we are at our new nighttime accommodations at a church on the edge of Chicago.

Pastor Steve thought something was terribly wrong with the van as it rolled backwards out of the parking space in a downtown parking ramp.  Then he realized that he had not started the engine.  Those motor vehicles never work to well with out the motor engaged!

Here are some comments on the day from the group:

For the first part….I really miss Jon (one of the Youthworks leaders). He was really fun to get to know and I hope I never forget him. Also I had fun at the Willis Tower (Sears Tower) and got to see a breathtaking view of the whole city. There were some glass boxes that we could go and stand on in the Willis Tower.  It was 4 ft. wide and really cool, even though I was hanging on to David’s backpack the whole time. I was a little scared of falling. At the ELCA headquarters many people asked us where we were from and we had to explain to each person who asked. I just had a lot of fun today. I miss everyone back at home. I can’t wait to come home and show off all my pictures that I took. ~ Sami

had a day of fun and laughing but it was bitter sweet because today was our last day to talk to all of out new friends at youth works. Youth works was soooooooooooo much FUN I made a lot of new friends and some of  them are from Minnesota. ~ Destiny

LESS HERE – MORE THERE

Today we were challenged to not let our schedules and agendas be our focus.  Our focus needs to be on Jesus.  We need to let him fill us so that we have something to give as the day unfolds.  We need to intuit or discern or listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit as each situation unfolds.  The day might not unfold as we planned.  There are interruptions and possibilities that we had not imagined.  It is important to learn to be open to opportunities outside of our plan and our comfort.

I saw a lot of humble service going on today as our group took kids of all ages to a local park and just played with them.  Others in our group worked at a community run multifaceted place of hospitality for people with all kinds of needs.  They helped people who are working to make their own community more just and livable.

Here are some stories:

My guitar took quite a beating as I held kids on my lap and let them strum while I fingered chords.  They all had pretty good rhythm chops!  It must be something in the Chicago water.  No, it’s really because of the African American and Hispanic culture.  At breakfast our kids tried to lead a little chant that we learned from the children at our mission site. We were the breakfast crew so it was our job to wake everyone up.  We could learn a lot about passion and rhythm from these folks.  Our version was pretty lame compared to how our little hosts did it. ~ Steve?

I was impressed by one of the older kids at the park helping one of the younger kids on one of the toys there.  And I was impressed how I didn’t get wet much today because it was raining out and it stopped raining so that we could take the kids to the park and it didn’t start raining again until after we got back to the school. ~ Sami

We got flushed out of Eden Place today due to the wicked rain, and we were sent to help clean and spruce up a building of two.  Not exactly “according to plan”.  It was fun, working in small, hot spaces moving books and tearing down and rebuilding a shelf.  :Then we were told, after showering, that the time was 4:30.  We go to showers at 2:30. Luckily, the watch was moved ahead of time so we still had our free time.  Everyone was just really confused. ~ Kat PS: All of us were out of whack with the schedule today.

Today we went to a different work site and helped them paint a room; with out our help they wouldn’t have finished. ~ Destiny

Today we went to a different work site and helped them scrape and paint a door frame. We don’t want it to rain tomorrow because we want to go back to the one we started and the kids said more God was there at Eden Place. I think God is always there with you and I like doing stuff to help other people and it feels good to do that   ~  Chelsea

I moved stuff today, the result of moving the stuff I do not know, but I moved stuff. ~ David

Today was the day that we took the kids to the park.  They look forward to this day all week, and I can see why.  I had a blast going on a tire swing with three of the girls I work with.  They screamed the whole time, but it was great to see these kids with difficult lives just having fun and being kids.  ~ Kyra

I helped David move stuff.  I also painted the ceiling of a new room because I was the only person tall enough to sit on the ladder and reach it.  I also organized a closet that was unable to be organized.  -Sincerely, Kurt

Soccer ministry!  I played soccer in the muddy park.  I encouraged the kids to play nice and let others in the game who wanted to play.  ~ Cody

Here are a couple of links to take you to pages that will inform you about Eden Place where Linnae, Kurt Kat, David, Chelsea, and Destiny are serving.

http://www.edenplacenaturecenter.com/

http://www.greenparentchicago.com/2009/07/eden-place-nature-center-an-urban-oasis.html

Our theme this week is:  MORE OF JESUS—LESS OF ME. (see John 3:30)

MORE COURAGE—LESS FEAR… was yesterday as we plunged into unfamiliar territory outside our comfort zones.

Today it was: MORE BE—LESS DO.  We are learning to simply be the presence of Christ in this pain filled, chaotic part of the world.

The morning was rainy but it cleared off in time us to work out there.

Here are some of our stories about how we saw Jesus increase and our self-serving selves decrease:

Part of my serving this week is chauffeuring kids around what you might call the scary underbelly of this city.  This is a place that needs Jesus and we are glad to be here but these neighborhoods are rough!  I am determined to keep them all safe in the traffic and on the streets.  I am praying for God’s protection over us.  No incidents or accidents, please.  You pray that too, okay?  All this shepherding is a sacred duty. My self –serving self would rather be home safe in my little Jordan world.  But this is rather exhilarating!

~ Pastor Steve

No one sees the grass we pulled up ~ Kat

Being there for the kids and help them learn respect rather than being naughty really helps them more than it helps us – Sami

Mosquitoes, muggy, hot, rain, wet, mud & hard work to lay a foundation no one but us will see.

Linnae

Random acts of kindness occur everyday and go unnoticed…as they should be.  I witnessed more than a days worth of them.  -Sincerely, Kurt

I’m more of a listener and a thinker than a seer, I also have to be paying attention to notice these events, but I go into my memory banks to look back at the day, I would see God in everything, because he is and created everything, that’s what I think ~ David

Something that I really enjoyed about the day was chapel time.  Pastor Steve did the rock n roll version of Jesus Loves Me, and the kids loved it!  It’s something different for them.  Then, they taught us a couple of their songs.  I really like learning from them, whether it be songs or how they can deal with the harsh environments around them.  -Kyra

I helped some kids play basketball today by holding the backboard up as high as they wanted, so they could dunk it and go for longer shots.  It wasn’t very comfortable some times, but it was fun to see them have fun.  ~ Cody

Please check out the photo’s that were taken the morning the Youth group left on the Chicago Mission Trip!

Today we started helping at the Bethel New Life Church where some very enthusiastic people run a summer program for kids.  We got to play with kids for a few hours, and that was interesting.  My favorite part of the day was having a kid read to me.  It meant so much to her that she could read me a story, and it was great to see her smile. ~ Kyra

My favorite part of the day we got to see a place that we didn’t know of and we had a water fightt and got chased by a duck it was fun today.  ~ Chelsea

Today I got to hold a bunny and a chicken. : )  ~ Destiny

From weaving and digging to being dropped-kicked by a rooster, I had loads of fun. ~Kat

I met a pretty cool guy named Troy and helped build a pretty cool wigwam…I also got pecked by a chicken. ~ Kurt

The day almost broke even, but I saw something I really didn’t want to see. ~ David

The Kids we are here to serve can be hard to love.  They have been abandoned by so many people. They live chaotic lives.  They have a lot of behavior problems.  But they need to be loved.  It takes a lot energy to stay engaged with them.  We will do what we can with God’s help.  I’m proud of our kids who are practicing being the presence of Christ.  ~ Steve.

We had a nice time downtown in Millennium Park this evening.  Chicago is a beautiful and interesting city.  We are experiencing it on many levels.

I wish we could post some pictures.  We have some good ones but we have battery and connection issues.  Maybe later….

This day was all about getting to our mission destination.  We had a long and uneventful drive.  Well, actually there were lots of events.  Just traveling together is a community building experience.  The little inside jokes start to develop,  the putting up with little personal quirks….

Thanks to Angie Newton for the use of her Tom Tom (navigation device) it really takes some of the uncertainty out of finding an unfamiliar place..

Now that we are here we are starting to get a feel for this neighborhood.  We will be spreading out tomorrow into different neighborhoods. Some of us will work in a kids in a summer library program others in a nature preserve project reclaimed from an illegal dump.

We will share stories and pictures tomorrow.  Now it’s time to get some sleep.  It’s been a long day.  Thanks to God for safe travel and new friends.

We are all getting our stuff together.  No cell phones or mp3 players!  Really?  Yep.  Imagine just focusing on face to face christian presence to each other and our new friends who will share our week in Chicago. It will be great!  We will get to know each other very well as we travel, laugh, work, play,  pray,  study and explore in the city of Chicago.

Say a prayer for us for safe travel and deepening of relationships with God and one another.