Twelve students and I just got back from an amazing trip to the south side of Chicago.
This might have been the most important missions trip of my life. The ministry we partnered with, Sunshine Gospel Ministries, did a phenomenal job of not only providing my students and I with several neighborhood projects to physically work on but also of teaching us about inner city ministry and casting a vision for what ministry and, consequently, real life in an impoverished and underprivileged community looks like. I have always been interested in the city and have wanted to move to a big city for the past 5 or 6 years now. This trip to Chicago with Sunshine has really moved me to consider how my future might involve moving into a neighborhood like the one we worked in in Chicago. Regardless of whether moving into this type of environment is for me or not, the staff at Sunshine has challenged me and my students to see all of our resources as gifts to be used in service of others. If we have extra rooms in our houses one day, or even a couch, should we not be using that to serve others? If we have been blessed with a kitchen table how can we use that to include others and outsiders into our lives? Incarnational ministry was the theme of the week. God could have saved humanity in one day if he wanted- sending Jesus down for a few hours to die on the cross and to pay for our sins, but he didn’t. Why? Why did God require the Jesus live amidst a decrepit and dull people day after day for 33 years? He did so to model what life in an sin-ridden and dull environment would look like. He did so to show us how important it is for us to leave our comfortable environments where we have power, control, and acceptance and to move into an entirely uncomfortable place. We also talked about how we are to look for evidences of God’s glory in all environments and in all people groups. Yes, the inner city can be unglamorous, especially to those of us who are used to the privilege of our own middle to upper class affluence and ease, but the inner city is also full of God’s mercy and grace. It has a unique flavor of life to it. People talk differently, eat differently, value different things, and have different forms of art and entertainment, but these differences are good and as equally redemptive as what we have in Clemson. Sometimes it is easy to think what we are used to is good and right, and that anything different or uncomfortable must be wrong, at least partially, but this is not true. God made diversity, and he called it good. We need outsiders, strangers, and foreigners in our lives to bring in these “other” aspects of God’s good creation into our lives. He is only accurately reflected when all aspects of is creative and good nature are seen. How are you and I welcoming what is different into our lives?
“What exactly did you do?” you ask.
During the day we worked on a variety of projects, all 100 of us having chosen our favorite of the options, which were to volunteer in one of three schools, do yard work for an elderly woman, help a pastor tear down a motel, help another pastor build a church, and do various other building/construction projects. If you are wondering what I mean by “help a pastor tear down a motel” let me explain. You may or may not have heard about Pastor Corey Brooks and his 95 day camp out on top of a motel notorious for being the center of much violence, prostitution, and drugs, which sat across from his church on the south side of Chicago. Pastor Brooks’s goal was to raise $450,000 and to use that money to buy then tear down the motel. You can read about the story here: http://www.myfoxchicago.com/dpp/news/metro/pastor-corey-brooks-tyler-perry-roof-campout-donation-project-hood-new-beginnings-church-20120224. Our group was the first to come into the hotel and knock it down. “Take out all your aggression at the evil that happened here,” Pastor Brooks said. So we took hammers and knocked down walls, dragged out old bedding, and other random objects from inside the motel. It was great to be able to tangibly destroy a hallmark of sin in the city and to immediately see results.
For the other days I worked at a local elementary school, helping learning disabled kids learn to read and write. It was hard work and I definitely left with more respect for teachers in those environments. I did not particularly love the work, but I did love the kids. They called me, “Miss Sunshine,” probably something to do with the fact that I told them I was working with Sunshine. I didn’t bother correcting them; “April” is pretty close to “Sunshine” anyway.
We also had an opportunity to share food with the homeless one day. We each packed a lunch for ourselves and one for a stranger, and then we went downtown to find people to talk with and to share our food with. I went with a guy named Jessie, and we found a man named Bobby. Bobby had been in the army, and other than that had lived in Chicago his whole life. We talked for awhile about what Bobby liked and didn’t like about the city. Bobby told me he liked to fish. I do too so we talked about that for a while. Then Bobby had to go so Jessie and I found another man to talk to. His name was Earl. Earl had been to college for a semester years ago but had left school because he missed his family and because school was difficult for him. He told Jessie and I about his past, and finally we had to tell him we had to go, that our group wsa meeting to leave in 5 minutes and that we couldn’t get left behind. Earl asked if we might be able to come back and talk to him again another time. He said that he hadn’t talked to anyone about his life in a long time and that people didn’t usually ask or listen. Sadly, we told him we were just visiting the city. Earl said that that was okay and that our conversation would stick with him for a long time. It would be a beautiful memory that he would think about for a while to come, he said. Jessie and I had spent 10 minutes with Earl.
Overall the trip made a huge impact on our group, giving us important first-hand experience with ministry and the city. We learned a lot and now have to apply it to Clemson. Please pray that we would not fail to do so.
Also, I’d like to shamelessly plug Sunshine Gospel Ministries! They were fantastic to work with- helpful, organized, and passionate! They take church groups, families, or really anybody for a week at a time during the summer and spring to come and help out while getting a vision for what God is doing in Chicago. Sunshinegospel.org.
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April Goes to Clemson 