Our Tireless God (December newsletter)

"Your love never fails, it never gives up. It never runs out on me."

Somehow, God never gets tired. He never gets tired of revealing His truth to us or breaking our rhythms to make a way for His plans. He never, ever gets tired of loving us. He does everything, sees everything, knows everything… and yet He never says, “Can you leave me alone for just like two hours? I really need a nap. It’s been a long day.” But here I am, desperate for a nap after being awake for twelve hours. Yet God has created the universe, made us all in His image, loved each of us more than we can begin to imagine, and continues to work in our lives, and He hasn’t even yawned.

God is at work here in Chicago. Even though gunshots and sirens are the soundtrack of so many lives, and fatherlessness is not unusual, and the nearly constant smell of trash and marijuana is not even startling anymore, God is working and revealing Himself in a lot of beautiful things in the midst of Chicago's craziness. The Firehouse is a prime example.

The Firehouse, led by Pastor Phil Jackson, invites youth and young adults to participate in DJ, dance, fashion, poetry, and culinary classes, as well as bible studies and worship/open mic nights, instead of spending their time on the streets. They fully embrace and embody A.R.T, art for redemptive transformation, and they have seen what art can do for people (hint: the results can be pretty amazing!) Below is a picture in The Firehouse, encouraging youth to "Go out and do something great today!" While The Firehouse doesn't necessary look like a typical house of God on the outside, God sure is working inside those painted walls and inside the hearts of everyone who enters that building, and I'm sure it isn't easy. Well, it wouldn't be for us. Luckily, our God is mighty and powerful and tireless.

God is also at work on a smaller scale. I've watched God work in my housemates and my students at work, I've seen it from afar in friends from home, and I've felt His work in myself.

Although I have enjoyed my time with my 1st-3rd grade students at work, and I have learned so much about teaching in general, I think God is calling me to teach older students. Students who have a lot to deal with, and who are really starting to become their own unique individuals with all different stories. God is also at work in my passions, in what gives me life or what starts fires within me. Being in the segregated, violent neighborhood I am in and witnessing the effects and possible consequences of this years presidential election has made me realize that God has given me a heart for people and a growing passion for social justice. Along with a love for music, theatre, and the Spanish language, I think these things are what I am supposed to do, love, and learn about throughout my life. God has used my first three months in Chicago to begin to truly reveal who He has called me to be and what He has called me to do.

For the next seven months, He has called me to be here. He has called me to be in Chicago, with Mission Year, spending my weekdays at Erie Neighborhood House and my weekends meeting and loving neighbors and living in community with my team. He has called me to get outside my comfort zone, to love others in ways I might not be used to, and to put in a very small fraction of the work He is doing here.

And guys, He is doing so much work. He is making disciples, He is breaking rhythms, He is making beautiful things out of the dust in Chicago. And I can't wait to watch Him continue His work over the next seven months. Though there will be times when I get tired of the violence, tired of the noise, tired of my crazy students and of living in community, He will never grow weary. He will never even think of sitting down to rest. What a mighty God we serve!

Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom.
Isaiah 40:28

A Cry for Justice (November newsletter)

One Thursday night, my team and I attended an event that we were all "too tired" for. After a long week, Thursday nights are normally needed rest time. But this Thursday was different, and we weren't exactly thrilled to have a mandatory event.

We hopped on the bus and traveled almost an hour to attend a rally for Laquan McDonald, a 17-year-old who was wrongfully murdered by Chicago Police Officer James Van Dyke. The rally marked the anniversary of his death. Like many of the murders we hear about today, Laquan was doing absolutely nothing wrong. He, ultimately, was murdered for simply being black. For simplybeing. 

The rally was very moving and motivational for me, and ended up being an experience I will not forget. Being one of maybe 30 white people in a crowd of about 150 people total was eye-opening, and strengthened my desire for all people to desire and fight for justice for the oppressed. To ditch this too-comfortable, stagnant lifestyle we are so used to and to get our hands dirty, to enter into violence, injustice, and heartache, and to fight. 

At the rally, family members of multiple murdered young men and women shared their experiences and heartbreak. The pain they so visibly felt made a home in my heart as well, and their cries for safety, peace, and justice replayed in my head for days after. It reminded me that it is not enough to sit back and watch them beg for these things- we should be fighting, begging, hurting alongside them. As one speaker at the rally said, "There are no barriers when it comes to justice." We do not deserve more justice than people of color. We do not deserve more power, more safety, more love than those brothers and sisters. But since we have more of these things, why would we not use them to help those who do not? 

Listen to the cries for justice. Don't just hear them, really listen. Remember that our lives are not more valuable than anyone else's, but at this point in our country, some lives are in danger. Some need protection, safety, love more than others. They so badly need justice. 

Look into Laquan's Law. I hope you support it, and vocalize how it makes you feel. Help change Chicago by putting new people, people who value all lives, in power. Someone who will give everyone an equal chance. Someone who will actually listen to those cries for justice and respond.

Teamwork Makes the Dream Work (October newsletter)

I can't believe October is halfway over- we're almost two months in! These last two months have gone quickly, but you know what they say- time flies when you're having fun. And it's hard not to have fun with a team like mine!

With only five of us, it's easy for all of us to be close and form solid friendships with each other. In the short seven weeks that I've known my teammates, I've learned so much about them, the world, and even myself. Let me tell you a little bit about my teammates so you know some things about the people I call family here in Chicago.

First we have Abi, who at 18 is the youngest, but also the most motherly. She is from Indianapolis, IN. Abi works at Lawndale Christian Health Center, and helps out with a Sunday School class at church. She loves kids and has the most contagious laugh, and is probably the most visually artistic one of us.

Then we have Andrew, who is 20 and from Seattle. Andrew also works at LCHC in the Marketing department. He also loves kids and has an incredible talent and passion for music, style, and justice. The way he sees the world continues to inspire me every day.

Next we have Sterling, who will be 22 in just a week! He's from "The greatest city on Earth...City of fountains...home of the 2015 world champion Royals and the Kansas City Chiefs...Go Chiefs." Sterling works at YMEN, or Young Mens Educational Network. He is an amazing chef and Trivial Pursuit champ.

Last but not least, we have our team leader, Victoria. Victoria is 24 and from Santa Cruz. She also works at LCHC, doing social work in the maternal health department. Her passion for social justice and Christian-based community development is motivational to me. We have connected over musicals and we often have the same random thoughts.

Every team member has a different personality type, making every day conversations, decisions, and challenges interesting, but I wouldn't trade my team for anything... (Okay, maybe sometimes I would but you get it.)

Now that I've mentioned where my team is working, I realize not many people know where I'm working! I work at Erie Neighborhood House here in Little Village. In the mornings I do a lot of data entry and research, but soon I'll be teaching a conversation class with the ESL students once a week. Once school lets out, I help with a program called READS, which helps first-third graders with literacy skills. I work in the computer lab, and I am so blessed by my time with the kids!

20 days?!

I can't believe it's only been 20 days since I moved to Chicago! It feels like I've lived in La Villita, and known my housemates, for a couple of months already. I'm going to talk about my housemates in another post later, but this post will be more of a recap and reflection on the last 20 days.
I arrived at La Villita Community Church on September 6 for national orientation. I'm normally a shy person when around people I don't really know, but I made myself be as outgoing as possible. I was immediately welcomed by my team leader Victoria, who invited me to join her and our roommate Abi in a circle of people. Luckily, everyone was happy to make conversation and they made it super easy to talk. In the first three hours of being in Chicago, I knew I was surrounded by some pretty awesome people.
National Orientation lasted until Saturday afternoon. In that short four days, I made a lot of amazing friends, heard a lot of incredible speakers, and learned so much. I also got to meet all of Mission Year's staff and hear them speak about things they are passionate about, and I was inspired, motivated, and challenged to get outside of my comfort zone, enter into hardships to create peace and joy, take care of myself better, and loved God and love people in so many ways.
Later in the day on Saturday, my team moved into our apartment. I was very happily surprised when I discovered we weren't living in a shoebox. It's small, sure, but it's cozy, and great for 5 young people living a more simplistic lifestyle. We didn't have to work our first week of living there, and we were still going through local orientation, which meant there were more sessions, training and getting more familiar with our new home.
While taking a tour of the neighborhood, we witnessed a... small gang encounter? I honestly don't know what to call it, but there was a gunshot. This is something I've never experienced before, and it shook me up for a whole day. It didn't seem like anyone was hurt, but it broke my heart to think that this kind of thing happens often in Little Village, Chicago, and all over the world. Youth are getting involved in gangs for many different reasons, and are going through some real serious stuff, even facing death. But this topic deserves at least it's own full blog post, which I'm sure will happen, and hopefully soon.
Anyway, that week was pretty much a blur. Last Monday, the 19th, we started working at our service sites. I'm working at The Erie House, which provides ESL classes during the day and an after school program for grades 1-3, as well as different resources for people in need. I've been doing a lot of computer work during the morning, and working in the computer lab with the kids in the afternoon. Soon I will actually begin teaching a conversation class for intermediate ESL students. Most of my housemates and I get home around 5:30, we make dinner, talk for a while and go to sleep, waking up at 7ish the next morning. Friday's are chore days and family nights, Saturday's are community involvement days, and of course on Sunday we go to church. Today, two of my roommates and I went to a worship team meeting after church. Leading worship is something I've missed doing ever since moving to Chicago, so I'm pretty excited about being involved in my new church, Nueva Vida (New Life Community Church.)
Well, I hope this is enough info to keep everyone up to date. Until next week!

Why Mission Year?

"Love God. Love People." Such a simple mission, but one that comes as more challenging than we'd all like.

Mission Year's motto is one that I have thought about constantly since I heard it. It's one of the biggest reasons I was drawn to the program. And while I know I don't practice it nearly as much as I should (more on that in a later post),  I'm so excited to be challenged to be more loving in the upcoming year of my life.

I've known I wanted to do a long-term mission trip ever since 2014, when I served in Tunica, MS for the second time. I realized that I loved helping people, but it went beyond that. I loved showing them love. I loved showing them God's love. Through a work project of painting a church, and VBS with some incredibly sweet, loving kids, I learned so much about myself, my friends, and God himself. I learned that mission trips are about the work... but they also aren't. They're about relationship and spreading His word. That's the main thing. Yes, mission trips are about painting churches, fixing leaky roofs, picking up trash in a cemetery... but they're more about loving God so much that you can't hold in the love He has shown you, and you want to tell everyone about it. Loving people can be done in so many ways, but telling them about God and His love for us is the best way to do so. 
Francis Chan said, "God's definition of what matters is pretty straightforward. He measures our lives by how we love." Sure, I bet God likes when we do the physical jobs. But what does it matter if we don't tell of the One who made it possible? 

I'm happy to spend the next year in Chicago, volunteering my time at a school (most likely) and an after-school program, to do things like shovel snow or paint a fence or whatever else we are asked or feel called to do in the physical sense. But the most exciting part to me is showing love to my neighbors who might not feel so much love. To show them that we (my team) care for them, but so does the creator of the universe. And how awesome is that? 

My thoughts are so scattered, but I'll end with another quote from Francis Chan. "Do you know that nothing you do in this life will ever matter, unless it is about loving God and loving the people he has made?” It's almost scary to think about that, but it's true. Nothing is more important than loving God, and loving people.