Week 2, Day 1

Good morning!

Our second group of mission trip students arrived (finally!) in Chicago last night and got settled in at Fourth Presbyterian Church.  We had a bit of traffic on 65, but otherwise we were smooth sailing to the Windy City.  Once we arrived, we unpacked our stuff and set up our cots in our rooms -- packed in like sardines!  We spent some time doing introductions with our group together and talking about what to expect for the week, and then we had dinner.  Giordano's pizza tends to cure all ills, and last night was no exception.  Between the stuffed pies and salads, we all ate our fill and then some.  

After dinner we got into our small groups for the first time, taking a few minutes to meet some new people and talk about what's on our minds for the coming week: what we're nervous about, what we're excited about, why we're here and what we expect to get out of the week.  We spent a good amount of time talking about service.  Not just the service that we will do for others here in Chicago when we're at work sites, but the service that we are always doing around each other -- at meal times, in small group or large group worship, when travelling, on public transit, etc.  One of our biggest goals for the week is that we expand our ideas of what a mission trip is really about, and open our eyes to the service we can be doing with the people around us at all times.

Today we're heading out to our first day of work, and so far everyone seems to have lot of energy for the upcoming week!  Please pray for us that our energy would be sustained  throughout all five days and that our eyes will be opened to the city around us that we may have never seen before, as well as the people around us whom we may have not really seen before either.

Peace,

High School Mission Week 2

P.s.  Each day this week we'll be giving the students numbers that are tied to statistics about Chicago.  They'll be able to speculate during the day, and at night in small groups they'll find out what the numbers refer to.  Our numbers for this morning have to do with food and hunger.  They are: 34.4 million, 1 in 6, and 37%.  What do you think they mean?