Chicago Pt. 1

6/22/14-6/25/14

Well as a good majority of you know, and for those who do not, I was in Chicago from 6/25-6/29.  It is the UKANDU event.  It is the event in which RSE was based off.  I will not go into all the specifics of what it is for that reason.  It is very similar to RSE just a bit longer with much more people.  Please ask questions in the comments if you are curious or talk to me, whatever works for you.

So we started off the day with worship at 8:00 AM.  I tried to get in a bit early to help out with getting ready for the trip.  We were leaving right after the first service with the goal of getting to Chicago that night.  I helped Michael with getting medical and permission forms all copied and ready to hand out later at Chicago.  Then we headed into the service and they had a time when they commissioned us and it was very cool to see the whole congregation involved.  Then we said our goodbyes, had a prayer, and were on the road.  There was a very cool thing Michael did, I suspect a lot for my benefit, with riding in the vans.  Each driver would draw from a bag of Popsicle sticks with our names on them.  You would ride with that driver and everyone else until we drew again.  It was awesome for me so I could get to know everyone much easier.

My first van Julie was the driver.  Also in the car was Brandon, Shantel, Nikki, and Grayson.  They were so welcoming and we played get to know you games nearly all the way to our lunch stop.  It was a lot of fun to listen and share funny stories with each other.  I learned Grayson wants to become a DCE when he goes off to college so we talked about that a bit which is awesome.  We stopped at Arbys for lunch.  At lunch I was running the devotion.  We looked at Psalm 67.  The beginning of this Psalm is the benediction at services.  It was cool to see them see that as well as all nations praising God and going to a servant event where we were going to all nations.

My next car ride was with Paul.  I was with Grayson and Abby.  We did a bit of talking but we all were pretty tired at that point.  I did help with the money for tolls for Paul though.  I can say that the last time I drove through Illinois I do not remember the tolls being as expensive as they were this time.  We arrived in Chicago ahead of schedule which was very nice.  We unloaded our stuff and set up our sleeping areas.  Then we had dinner there and worship.  At the end of worship we got our work teams.  My team was a VBS team which was awesome.  I was with Johanna (The other leader), Kaitlyn, Dylan, Michael (not supervisor), Abby, and Moriah (who was Johanna's sister).  I got to know them throughout the week but more on that later.  Pastor Jeff talked that night about following where God leads, and it's not always where we planned.

The next day started with breakfast and making lunches.  Then we had morning worship and Pastor David spoke about the difference of a fan and a follower.  Then we headed out for the first day.  Everyone besides Kaitlyn and myself had been on UKANDU before (not sure if Moriah had been there before).  Dylan had worked with the same group of kids for VBS last year which was awesome.  We took his advice and it really helped to have that insider information.  We got there and took the first day to start to get to know the kids and just have a fun day.  We plugged in parts of the curriculum (gangway to Galilee, interesting choice) during the day and it went pretty well.  It was interesting because her comes a group of entirely white people, and everyone at the church is African American.  For me it was quite a culture shock but tons of fun.

We got back that night and had worship and Trent was our speaker.  He talked about fakers which was an incredible message.  It really hit home for me and many other people.  It was a message we needed to hear and really acknowledge.  After he had talked we wrote down on pieces of paper our sins and those things that get in the way of us being followers of Christ rather than fans.  Then we shredded them in paper shredders.  After that they were dumped on the altar area.  Then they put a white sheet over it.  This was to show that our sins are covered and gone.  Even though we like to look under the sheet God says that those are gone and that he has forgotten them.

The next day stared off with breakfast and making lunches again.  Then we came into worship.  That morning our speaker was Abby, from my group.  She talked about how we need to love because God first loved us.  It was an awesome message and she did a great job.  Then we headed out to VBS again.  It was a bit of a tougher day.  We fought against their want to use the computers.  There was a lot of fighting and not wanting to do stuff.  However there was an awesome moment when their lunches were super late.  We gave them food from the snacks we had and able to get them all some food and they finally did get a little snack but not a lot.  So it was very good we had what we had.  

On our way back we got a bit lost but it was for God's plan.  We were able to give a man who was homeless a orange and chips and a water.  It was really cool to see God work through our frustrations.  That night we had supper and Michael spoke.  The Spirit really spoke through him.  He had an amazing message about where we need to be in order to move forward in faith.  We need to be on our backs completely down.  We love to look under that sheet but God just sees the sheet.  It was a great message and he ended with us coming together and holding each others' shoulders.  We have that.  It is an amazing picture of fellowship and the body of Christ.

The next morning we yet again started the day with breakfast and making lunches.  Although Wednesday is our shorter day and fun time in the afternoon.  We started the day with Pastor Steve, my youth director at Trinity during confirmation, talking about craving God like a drowning man craves oxygen.  It was an awesome message and perfect for that day going out.  We had an answer to prayers at VBS that day.  It was best day so far that week up until that point.  The kids were with us and really getting together good.  It was a fun day and we all felt that God had been very evident.  We did sidewalk chalk that day and I wrote out John 3:16 there.  Serenity read it and I told her it was from the Bible.  We read it together and then I was able to give her the Bible they had handed out to us.  It was an awesome moment.

That night instead of worship we gathered together and took a group picture.  We had received our t-shirts the night before.  They were red and said "Not a Fan" on the front and "Follower of Christ" on the back plus the logo.  We started on our way to Navy Pier.  There I hung out with Michael and Cassidy.  We took a ride on the Ferris wheel and saw some hilarious bird action you'll have to ask me about sometime.  Hearing her giggle and talk was awesome because she is generally a very shy person.  Then we headed towards the dock and took a boat trip around Chicago.  We saw some awesome buildings and had just a great time in fellowship.  Pastor Steve and I took some time to catch up on each other's lives.  Then we headed back to the church for so letters from home which was awesome.  I didn't expect to get anything but Michael had worked with my family and Amy to get me letters which really helped me out and was touching.