Wonder Voyage 2010 Summer Blog

Our team has been serving in Chicago for almost a week.  From the buzz we heard in being around the students, the leaders determined that the schedule needed to change a little.  Our day called for a late breakfast then some free time then Wrigley Field to see the Cubs play.  These students wanted more service, more opportunity to connect with the people of Chicago, not just in play, but in an atmosphere of giving and hospitality.  They wanted more opportunities to see God in this city as they worked in our temporary new home.  We added an encounter time that would do that. The only trouble was we already had the late morning and early afternoon booked, if we wanted to do something it would have to be early.

Jaws dropped as I explained to the team that we added something to the schedule and we needed to meet on the first floor of the Hostel no later than 4:50 am.  This would be our earliest morning and was stretching all of us after nearly a week of service but it carried huge potential.  I was concerned that there would be a sleep in protest; I was pleasantly surprised when the entire team was where they needed to be on time, smiling and eager to start the day.  We walked a few blocks to a Starbucks, picked up three coffee to go’s, broke the team up in to three smaller teams and sent them out to offer cups of coffee to those they encountered on the streets of Chicago, train stations or where ever they ventured to.

There were some who gladly took the coffee, there were some that were surprised and puzzled by the offer, some were in too much of a hurry to respond.  Each group experienced the stress of rejection and the joy of being able to serve those who responded.  In the end the teams shared their experiences, ate breakfast and headed to their rooms for a little nap before the rest of the day began.  It is so amazing to be with a group that not only asks for more service projects and opportunities to have encounter but they do so happily and without hesitation, even when it means that they give up a little sleep.

Our first day in Chicago began just as you might expect: conversations with new friends, navigating the “L,” a venture into Chinatown, and work at an organization serving teen mothers in south Chicago. The lattermost was especially poignant.

We left our hostel in the morning and took the Red Line as far to the south as we could go. Our team then crammed into a city bus and we rode even further south to the Jadonal E Ford Center: a refuge for pregnant teens. The building also houses programs that advocate education, find housing for wards or the state, distribute WIC food and a staff that generally does anything it can to help the youth in their community succeed. Our team worked hard doing odd jobs and beautifying a building that never gets as much attention as it needs.

It was an unusual act of service but one that blessed both our group and the workers there, providing us an excellent intro to the City on Big Shoulders.