We took a detour into Illinois right outside of Chicago. We did manual labor including ripping up carpet, chair demolition, weed pulling, cleaning windows, etc. After all the work was done, some of the youth had come to help so we had a giant game of volleyball in the gym downstairs. The next day we had some team time (Hour with God, D-Groups, etc.) and then had a summer carnival. The carnival was really successful!

We were all in host homes again the next couple nights. I was with Ritter, Zachary, Chase, and Peyton at Scott and Ann Jobb’s house. They had a really big house and their spiritual gift was so obviously hospitality because they made so much food for us and spent every minute we were in their care making sure we were the utmost comfortable and loved.

 

One of the pastors there I actually knew from years ago because he used to go to my church back in Ohio. When he left I had no idea where he had gone, but apparently it was LaGrange. He recognized me immediately when I walked in the door. It was a really cool surprise for me and it was nice that God showed me a familiar face in a strange place.

During the carnival, I was talking with one of the pastors at the church when a woman walked up and started talking to him. As the conversation progressed I began to realize that she was a lesbian and her partner came up after a while with their two adopted children. They had tried out so many churches before that did not want them and they didn’t feel welcomed at. All they wanted to feel accepted at church loved. The coolest thing for me was seeing a pastor respond to these women whose lifestyle we did not agree with, and he told them that they were welcome to stay and look for Christ regardless of who they were then. I didn’t say a whole lot during the conversation, but I think God wanted me to see the love that he has for people who are messed up and turned around and confused because I used to be messed up in sin just as much as anyone. I had to be saved too so should I not welcome the chance for others to have that opportunity? “And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of God.” ~1 Cor. 6:11

 

Chicago: We went into downtown Chicago near Millennium Park for the day before heading off to the next location and we went around in pairs and talked to people. The goal was to get into a spiritual conversation and share the love of Jesus, but it doesn’t always happen and a simple kind word goes a long way. However Amanda and I talked to three people in depth.

 

The first two, a man and wife, were sitting on a bench by the pier about a quarter mile north of the park. We started talking to them and it turned out they were Jehovah’s Witnesses. They were so eager to discuss our faith with us and tell us about theirs. I think this was the point when Amanda and I both realized we didn’t know our faith or our book as well as we had thought. “But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.” ~1 Peter 3:15

 

The next person we talked to was a woman who was standing on the street with a sandwich board on her calling for world peace. We had actually seen her standing there from a ways down the sidewalk and as we got closer, we passed another couple of our teammates who had passed her by. They jokingly dared us to go talk to her, but both Amanda and I felt like the Holy Spirit was prompting us to go. She had very strange beliefs that seemed to contradict at every turn. She wanted nothing to do with Christ and basically told us we were silly children for believing in him. But that is the way it goes sometimes.