Wow. 10 days in Chicago and counting. Never in my life have I had quite the experiences I've been having since k10, kdogg, and I first saw the famous skyline racing closer through the windshield of the 'Runner. The 'Runner interestingly is pretty much the only familiar thing I brought with me that I got to keep here. I never thought I would be so thankful to get in my car and drive 2 miles to work everyday.
I moved here to be an intern for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America working with their World Hunger program. I LOVE MY JOB! From Day One, there was never a doubt that this is where God wanted me this summer. Ok, really Day One was just training with HR but even that was pleasant. I am so fortunate to be working for a team of people who are excited to have interns and really trust us with important things. Lana is a fellow intern and new friend. Praise God that we get along great because our work is constantly overlapping and we are able to count on each other for support everyday. She is also new to the city so we're going to have an awesome summer of adventure and exploration of all the nooks and crannies of Chi-town!
The overview of my job is that I will be in charge of many of the large World Hunger events that are currently going on or will be coming later in the summer or year. The biggest and most exciting for me is designing a 15,000 sq. ft. space in the Convention Center in New Orleans where the 2009 National Youth Gathering will be held and 36,000 youth from around the country will come to serve New Orleans and learn about their faith. My job is to teach them as much as I can about World Hunger and Poverty issues in the short time that I will have their attention. CRAZY! I'm also currently working with 3 Pastors who are biking their way around the country visiting 65 cities to raise awareness and funding for the World Hunger Appeal and it's programs that it supports. Oh Yeah...their riding a bike built for three (called a triplet) and it's made of BAMBOO! These guys are awesome and crazy but it's been fun. They will also be making appearances at the Youth Gathering so that should be fun for the kids. There are a ton of little things that I'm responsible for but that too much detail. I'm busy. But doing great things.
Today, we had the opportunity to visit one of our Domestic Hunger Grant sites here in the Chicago area. The program is called Bethel New Life (www.bethelnewlife.org...please check them out!) and they are an incredible group of people trying to change the face of one of the toughest and most forgotten neighborhoods in Chicago. Their ministry started 30 years ago out of Bethel Lutheran Church as a senior ministry, to assist elders in their community. The program has grown exponentially and they now serve almost every part of life imaginable from day care to job training and placement to assisted senior living to a million other things. One of the most moving things I think they do is their work with those who are returning to the community from serving time in Prison. Called the Welcome Home project, they seek to provide "criminals" with a second chance getting them job training and internships and working with them to give those who truly want to change their lifestyle a hand up and support as they attempt to assimilate back into society. Today we met Mr. Riddle who has recently completed the program and been hired on at the facility to help others because he was such a model participant. Mr. Riddle served 20 years for first degree murder. He is 41. That means that when he was younger than I am now for whatever reason he took someone else's life. But that was not the man that I saw before me. I saw someone who took responsibility for making an incredibly terrible choice when he was just a kid but who genuinely learned from that and wants to be given a chance to live a better life. He could have done the program and gone to find another job with the skills he had but he stayed at Bethel because he earnestly wants to spend the rest of his life giving back to others and trying to help them out of the many situations that the people of the Austin/Garfield neighborhoods find themselves in. "I love my murderers." is what the director of the Welcome Home project said to us today. She floored us but then went on to explain that these are often the participants in the program who are the best candidates for success. They have lost the most already and know what it is going to take and want it more than anyone else. 1,500 people are released from Chicago prisons per MONTH! Their program can only handle about 18 per 6-8 weeks or so. What happens to the rest? Who is looking out for them? Why do we wind up with so many repeat offenders? It becomes clearer to see when you walk the streets of this neighborhood. But God is working there. In small ways that will have a great impact. There are people who have not lost hope and refuse to leave even though they have the means. This place matters to them and they are going to fight to get people to rise up. I'm excited for what Bethel is doing and what their presence means. I could go on and on about the things I learned today and the ways they are helping the people of that community. It is wonderful to see and wonderful to know that the work I am doing this summer helps to fund their grant which contributes significantly to the work they are trying to accomplish.
We ended our field trip today with some SOUL food. haha. best meal yet. chicken (fried or baked). mashed potatoes. collard greens. mac&cheese. corn. green beans. cornbread muffins. peach cobbler. banana puddin. mmmmmm. delicious. lol. joe young is the man for giving us the mcarthur's soul food experience.
pray for the people of the austin/west garfield neighborhoods and for bethel new life. they still need lots of support. they still need grocery stores where they can buy affordable healthy food. they still need one company to fill one of the many vacant factories. to take a chance on them. to give them hope. and jobs. and affordable housing. and a way out. they are people. like you and me. god loves them. we need to.
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