Finished Strong

The team arrived home last night to a welcome party with signs and lots of cheering. We were all pretty tired so seeing everyone was very exciting.

We woke up early Tuesday morning to check out of the hotel and head back to Good Seed to finish the field. We did a little surprise clean up the church lot before we actually went to the field. When we got to the field we found Pastor Bone and his students hard at work. They had been there since 7:45 spreading the dirt. After about three hours of hard work the field was done. The difference was incredible.

They allowed me to throw the first pitch on the field. I was honored and humbled. After everybody taking turns pitching we stood back and let their students play. Some of our students joined in. For about an hour we did nothing but celebrate and play baseball. It was a blast. Watching the boys (and girls) eyes light up as they played on THEIR field was priceless. We finished with a huge prayer circle around the pitchers mound.

Hopefully next summer we'll be able to watch an actual game on the field. We are hoping to have a reunion next month and hit up a White Sox game. There is also a chance their team will be coming back to the area for another tournament, which means more Yummy Pizza.
We will be sure to keep you posted.

Our students served well. They gave everything they had on this trip and it showed. Be sure to check out DC and Dave's blog for pictures. I'll have some coming soon on mine as well.

Thanks for a great week everyone!!!

Rain Delay

In case you didn't know already, let me just tell you that our God is good, very good. Today was beyond incredible. We headed back to Good Seeds this morning and met their students and Rob and his family only to find no dirt and a field still full of water thanks to the night rains. We weren't too surprised the city hadn't shown up with the dirt but the water on the field was a surprise.

Our team was pretty bummed but they worked hard on finishing the weeding. Rob did some investigating, which ended with Pastor Bone on the phone with the grounds keeper for the White Sox. His name is Roger or the Sodfather, as some call him. That conversations ended with a SEMI full of professional grade field dirt scheduled to be dropped off tomorrow morning. This is the same dirt that is used on the infield at Comiskey Park. You should read the entire story on Rob's blog. It is amazing how God works!

So we did all the prep work on the field that we could today. We had lunch at Pizza Hut with the Good Seeds students. After the work was done we cleaned up and went downtown for some "Pie in the Sky." We had Giordano's pizza and went to the top of the Sear's Tower.

It is really late and we have an early morning tomorrow. We'll pack the bus and head back to the field to finish things up. This has truly been an amazing trip.

Serving in the Mud

Yesterday we talked about getting soaked for Jesus. Today we talked about getting muddy for Jesus. We worshiped this morning with the Good Seeds Ministry congregation. It is an inner-city church in White Sox territory. Glen and Carla Bone are the pastors at the church. They are some of the neatest people you will ever meet. They have such a huge heart for that neighborhood. Carla taught on value and worth. It was a fantastic message.

Good Seeds has a baseball team of 9-12 year old boys who have never played a home game because they don't have a field. They travel 30-45 minutes every day to practice on a field that is playable. After service we changed clothes, ate lunch and headed to the baseball field a few blocks away.

The field was in rough shape. There was a good amount of trash and plenty of water covering the field. Most of the first base line was under water. And there was a small lake between third base and home plate. Both dugouts and behind home plate were overgrown with tons of weeds. The city refuses to fix the field up but said if the church did then they would maintain it.

Some of the boys, as well as the youth group and others from the church, came out to work with us. We spent about 3 1/2 hours working and finished almost half of the weeding, picked up most of the trash and drained the field as best as we could. Hopefully the heat will help dry out the rest of the field before we head back tomorrow. There will be truck loads of dirt brought in tomorrow so we can level the field and build a pitchers mound. Well finish up the weeding and have the field ready for the city to mow.

We were surprised by Rob and Michelle Wegner and the girls. Our students were so excited to be have them serving with us. The energy level shot through the roof when Rob started digging and Michelle and the girls started weeding. Check out their blogs, he has posted some pictures.

After service Jeff, Johnny and DC grilled some fabulous hot dogs for the group. Then there was a massive football game with both groups. It was a blast. I loved watching our students interact and work along side the students from the church. They worked so well together and the football game was the icing on the cake. Our students can't wait to go back again tomorrow.

Their Home

We walked below the Michigan Avenue bridge and found flocks of pigeons trying to escape the rain. The cement slabs were covered in bird droppings and feathers. If you've ever been around bird flocks you know the smell that permeated the air. At the very end of the block, where the distance from the ground to the bridge was the shortest, was the home of three men and a women. I don't know how long they've lived there but it has been long enough to make it their own.

Daniella and Thomas shared a bed made of large sheet of cardboard. Daniella is pregnant. I'm not sure how far along she is but I'm guessing about five or six months. Next to their bedroom was another large sheet of cardboard that Dave and Jermaine shared. Their bedroom had two foot high walls made of cardboard to help protect them from the wind and birds. They were kind enough to let us join them in their home, long enough to share some lunch and pray with them. They didn't share much of their story other than their desire to get off the streets. Dave didn't seem to care too much if he got off the streets he just wanted to have peace.

I walked away wondering more about their story. How would Daniella be able to take care of her child? Will she end up delivering the baby there in the home under the bridge. As we got closer to the intersection the light from the street helped me see more clearly the effects of living among birds. My mind immediately thought, "That is disgusting!" And in the same breath I reminded myself I just called these friendly peoples' home disgusting.

It might not look like a house, but it is a home...their home.

Prayer Walk

There is no way to explain how amazing our team is! Today's project was not an easy one. It's hot. It's raining. People are looking at me funny. My legs are tired. I'm hungry. It was so easy to get distracted during five hours of walking and praying but our students poured themselves into the prayer walk. Each group walked approximately 4 miles praying for the city, businesses, the homeless, the churches and anybody and everybody they saw. They found ways to stay focused and our leaders were a huge encouragement to them. We were all excited to have DC, Jeff and Johnny with us for a little bit of the day.

We spent some more time talking about how powerful prayer is. We have seen God do so much in our students ministry this summer due to the prayers of many people, you! What if we prayed that the business leaders, who have incredible amounts of influence, would come to know Christ and become passionate about serving him. What would happen to Chicago? So today we prayed that God would move in this city and we know he will.

We got stuck in some nasty traffic on the way back to the hotel. Our 45 minute bus ride took two hours. Most middle school students would whine and complain about how long it was. Not our students. We told riddles and jokes and laughed so hard we almost cried. The two hours went very quickly.

Since it was such a long day we gave everyone some extra pool time to relax. During that time I became the victim of a serious water gun attack. A huge thanks to our leaders Jeremy and Isaac for acting as my official bodyguards. It was the perfect way to end the long day. We are pumped to go back out and feed the homeless tomorrow in a different section of town.

I almost forgot...the students send a huge thank you to all of you who have left comments for us. I read them to the team on our way to our work projects.

• Tammy, you got some major applause and "I love yous" thrown your way. The team says hello!
• Dr. Phil, you are lucky you posted a comment. I finished reading the comments this afternoon and they all wanted to know where yours was. You are loved! There will be great shouts of joy when I say your name tomorrow.
• Megan, pack your bags now! You ARE joining us next year.
• Parents, thanks so much for all the support you give our students. They love the comments from home.
  

Work Day Pics

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from our work day. Enjoy!