Chicago: More Than Simply Showing Up

Church. One word with a million different meanings, depending on whom you ask. And thanks to our research, Becky and I have asked what "church" (or ecclesia) means a whole lot.

To some, it's a physical location or a specific event that takes place once every week on Sunday. It's a textbook definition; one where success depends on tithes and attendance, and you can check in and out each week without ever truly realizing why you're actually there. In the areas where Becky and I are from (Alabama and Georgia), church can be that to a lot of people. It's cultural or nominal; everyone just finds time in their schedule to dress semi-nice and sit in rows, sing, and try not to fall asleep for one hour every Sunday. A place you can come and go, shaking hands at the appropriate point of the service and stopping without anyone ever truly knowing your heart, struggles, and prayers. A place where no one really notices if you're not there one week. A place where "accountability" and "life on mission" are bad words...simply because everyone is far too comfortable exactly where they are.

But then, Becky and I ask the same question to the church planters. The college students. The campus ministries. The pastors. The evangelical workers. The people giving all that they have here on this earth so that someone else can know Jesus Christ. To them, church is living. It's active. It's ever-changing. Up here, you're the odd ball out if you go to church on Sunday. Where we grew up, it was the other way around. Many of the churches here are small, but their faith is huge. They eat together, pray together, laugh together, and cry together; they live life-on-life together so much it gets uncomfortable.

Churches as small as the ones we've been going to could be incredibly discouraging, but I've actually found it to be quite inspiring. To all of these people, going to church is so much more than simply showing up. It requires a sacrifice on their part because it's not a cultural event in Chicago, so it's not normal. To them, church is powerful. It's really the only time they get to be around other Christians during their week. They are dedicated to praying, giving, and serving with all that they have to impact each other and the community in which they worship. These Christians care about each other and their neighborhoods, holding each other accountable and actively building relationships and sharing the gospel with those around them. Their faith isn't nominal; it's the 24/7 bold faith that we should all strive to have more of.

Sunday night we went to hear Christine Caine speak, and she said something that really summed up my thoughts on the churches here. Referencing Hebrews 12, she talked about the need for more Christian witnesses in the world, not just Christian spectators. Where I'm from, there's no shortage of the spectators, the people that set aside an hour once a week for their faith but that's about it. Churches everywhere need more witnesses like the people we've met in Chicago; people willing to set aside things of this world for the sake of the gospel. Followers of Jesus Christ need to come to terms with the fact that church is a vital point of growth in their faith...it's about more than simply showing up.

Sending Love from Sweet Home Chicago,
Sydney

God be Glorified

With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of His calling, and that by His power He may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith. We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12

Team of the Day: P52 Chicago

Country of the Day: United States

Pray for team members to seek God's glory in every thought, word, and deed.

Chicago: Adventures in the Big City

Throughout the summer Becky and I have done countless hours of research, sent WAY too many emails, traveled all over the city and suburbs for interviews (I'm now banned from navigating because I get us lost far too often), and taught multiple English lessons. That said, we've also been on countless adventures in the Windy City. 

The other fourteen college students working in Chicago with a church plant have been wonderful in welcoming us into their family for the past few weeks and including us in team dinners and adventures throughout Chicago. 

Becky and I just wanted to give you a couple snapshots of the random memories we've been able to make this summer (you're welcome, Mom!)

Sending Love from Sweet Home Chicago,

Sydney

a local church's Bible Talk group I got to go to with some GenSend students

Group pic with GenSend from our
4th of July cookout (our supervisors REALLY love fireworks)

Our view from the Willis Tower
(it's the 12th tallest building in the world!)

Becky on the LEDGE
(a glass ledge in the Willis Tower where you can
step out 108 floors above the city)

tickets from a WONDERFUL food festival downtown 

Chicago: Answered Prayers (Yet Again)

If there's one thing Becky and I will never forget about this summer, it would have to be the power of prayer. The first three weeks we were in Chicago got frustrating at times. We were doing lots of important research for local workers, but we weren't meeting really anyone that we could build relationships and share the gospel with. We prayed endlessly for persons of peace and prayerwalked up and down the street we're based on more times than I could count. It was a long three weeks, but the Lord really opened doors for us to meet the community through.

Like I said last week, Becky and I are teaching English to four women who speak either Farsi or Telugu. We've been having such a great time getting to know them and help them with their language skills. That said, we were struggling to find a way to share the gospel with these women, considering they speak little to no English, and we most definitely can't speak Farsi or Telugu. We'd constantly been praying before lessons that the Lord would give us an avenue through which we could tell these women about His glory, and our prayers were (yet again) answered!

One of the women we work with has a daughter in high school. Last week, Becky was helping the mother learn words applicable to job skills/training, while the high schooler and I were working on conversational English and writing. She asked me what I had done the day before, so I mentioned I'd gone to church and one of my friends had preached. She asked me about the sermon and quickly transitioned over to discussing school. When she later asked me what my favorite book was, I told her I really loved the Bible.

The Lord had definitely heard our prayers about softening these women's hearts! She asked me what the Bible was about and took notes of everything I said in her journal...her notebook basically has the gospel in it now! She seemed really interested and wants to talk about it more next week; she even asked if we could read some of it together the next time we met so that she could practice her reading too! Becky and I were so excited we were able to break down our language barriers and tell this girl who Jesus really is, the Son of God.

Please pray for the following:

• "H" would be open to hearing more about the gospel and reading the Bible the next time we meet
• Becky and I would continue to balance our research and our English lessons
• we would find more ways to share the gospel with the other women we meet with
• the Holy Spirit would work in these women's hearts so that they would be open to hearing about God's glory and love for them.

-P52 Chicago

Chicago: Answered Prayers

The research we've been able to accomplish for our supervisor these past few weeks has been fantastic. We're giving them a better understanding of the evangelical work and international groups in the city, and this information will be used my missionaries and church planters for years to come. Knowing that has been incredibly inspiring and encouraging, but Becky and I have both felt God calling us to something more.

Both of us are very social people, so one of our goals for the summer was to meet internationals in our area and build relationships through which we could share the gospel. Between Ramadan, us being females, and the stand-offish culture in Chicago, it's been incredibly difficult to meet people and start conversations. We'd been praying and praying for God to put the right people in our path to help us create relationships, and our prayers were definitely answered this week!

A few weeks ago, we had to interview an evangelical worker that has been working for years with refugees and internationals from the 10/40 Window. We had mentioned to him that we were struggling to make connections in the area, and I thought he'd forgotten about it. Then, he randomly texted me the other day asking us to stop by his storefront. We went, and he spent the next 2 hours introducing us to different families that needed help with their English...we're now helping four women and their children with English several times a week!

We are so thankful that God led us to this evangelical worker who got us connected in the community, and we're faithfully praying we can effectively share the gospel with these women (even though the language barrier seems impossible sometimes). Right now, we're rejoicing that the Lord heard our prayers and led us to these women who so desperately need someone in their lives that can tell them about Jesus.

Please pray for the following:

• our English teaching skills (we've never done this before)
• that these women would see something different in us because Christ's love is being shown through us and our ministry
• the Holy Spirit would soften their hearts to be open to the gospel
• Becky and I would find a way to share the gospel with them in a way that was accurate but also able to be understood by these women
• these women have heart-breaking stories, so please pray for their comfort and lives here as they start over in America

Chicago: 77 Neighborhoods, 1 City

Each neighborhood has its own demographics, its own strengths, its own character. At first glance, this division of the city gives each neighborhood a "small-town feel." As someone who likes order, my first reaction was one of delight that the city had different sections that were easily recognizable; each one has its own easily definable traits. Wicker Park is "hipsterville," while West Ridge, Rogers Park, and Albany Park are considered the "ethnic" neighborhoods, etc.

Take a deeper look, however, and you will find that these divisions bring to bear the rotten fruit of generalization, marginalization, and disunity. As gentrification slowly creeps into a neighborhood, it pushes the unwanted, impoverished, and overlooked of society out of those streets. Each neighborhood can also have poor connotations, too. The South Side is to be avoided. West Garfield Park has the most homicides per capita in Chicago.

And yet, West Garfield Park is where Sydney and I found ourselves (quite by accident) Saturday. As we stepped out of the train station, my mind immediately began to fill with words like "danger," "violence," "unsafe," "gangs," "run," and "don't make eye contact." Still, as my heart began to slow down from its throbbing pace as we waited for what seemed like hours for the bus, our Lord brought the words of 1 John 4:18-21 to my mind:

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because He first loved us. If anyone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.

My heart flooded with conviction. Yes, there is a place for healthy situational awareness, but these people were fellow image-bearers, just as broken as me, of whom I had let statistics and the media influence my perception of without ever taking the time to look them in the eye, smile, or say "hello." I watched these same people go about their day: greeting each other, walking in and out of shops... as people. Actual human beings. Novel thought, right? I watched these same people kindly help each other on the bus when a woman struggled to fold out one of the seats---these are the same people the world usually tries to forget about on a day-to-day basis. My gut reaction was the adoption of an un-Christlike attitude of superiority, with no thought of tying on the apron of a servant around myself or seeing their need for the Gospel. Yet Jesus died for them out of perfect love, and how dare I not be willing to do the same?

Do you believe in territorial spirits? I do. I believe that there are dark beings at work, seeking to put up walls between each of the 77 neighborhoods here in Chicago to keep those within them trapped in whatever identity has been forced upon them. I believe these spirits are seeking to control the spiritual fervor of church-planting and disciple-making movements that are taking place within the confines of an invisible geographic and demographic barrier.

Please pray alongside me and other evangelical workers in the city these next few weeks, as a summer-long Prayercast takes place over the city of Chicago (http://prayercast.com/chicago77.html
Please pray for each neighborhood individually, that our Victorius Defender would bind the forces that seek to divide this beautifully diverse city.

Wishing you well from the Windy City (which is a very accurate description),
Becky

Chicago: Weekend Update

This week was full of a lot more emails, but we were also able to get out from behind the computer and meet several people for in-person interviews. We traveled out of the city to the suburbs this week to meet a Muslim Background Believer seeking asylum in America. He and his wife became missionaries in the Middle East and North Africa, but they had to leave the area because of intense threats and persecution. His story was both heartbreaking and inspiring because he cannot wait to get back on his feet here in the area so he can faithfully share the gospel with Muslims in his community.

We also went to an Iftar buffet this week in the area we're working in this summer. Some of our other friends here on a mission trip met a Pakistani immigrant when they were here two years ago, so a group of us was able to visit one of his favorite restaurants with him. Becky and I loved getting to meet other members of the community and start to form relationships through which the gospel can hopefully be shared later this summer.

Becky and I with our new Pakistani friend and our other friends here doing ministry at Iftar

With Ramadan ending, Becky and I are praying that we will be able to meet more members of the community and share the gospel with them in the next week.

Please pray for the following:

• our friend to be able to continue his ministry here in America
• his ministry back in the Middle East to be continued through those he discipled
• our Pakistani friend to see the love of Christ through us, and his heart be opened to Him
• the Holy Spirit to work in people's hearts in the area so that they would be open to hearing the gospel 

Sending love from Sweet Home Chicago,

Sydney

Chicago: A Little Encouragement Goes a Long Way

I can't believe we've already been here for almost two weeks. It feels like just yesterday we stayed up for 44 hours without sleep and went straight from orientation in Alabama to Chicago and orientation here. Now that we're finally settled into our permanent residence for the summer (with our jaw-dropping view), we've been so thankful and blessed with the amount of encouragement we've received.

Earlier this week, 14 other college students landed in Chicago to do mission work for the summer. They're helping with a church plant about 30 minutes from where we are, but we're all staying in the same dorm. We've had a lot of fun being able to recharge and share our experiences with other college students just as focused on sharing the gospel.

Becky and I were also blessed with two very special visitors for a couple of days. Our Project 52 Coordinator and her friend/our trainer came up to Chicago to visit us for a few days. We were able to show them the wonderful area we get to work in this summer, and they were able to give us some helpful advice on how to complete our research and still form relationships and share the gospel with people we meet in the city.

The highlight of their visit was when we took them down the street that's our central location for the summer. It's got so many different people groups and cultures, it's basically like going to three separate countries without ever leaving Chicago.

While their trip was short, it was so wonderful to see them and be encouraged by their support and advice for our work this summer. Here's to six more weeks of completing research and sharing the gospel with everyone we meet!

Sending love from Sweet Home Chicago,
Sydney

Chicago: Emails, Emails, and More Emails

One of our goals for the summer is to help local evangelical workers and missionaries get a better understanding of the Christian culture and presence in the city and surrounding suburbs. We got a packet of questions to try to answer during our Chicago orientation and off we went.

Thankfully Becky loves research, and I love interviewing people (thanks Journalism classes). The past week has been a flurry of Google searches, phone calls, and countless emails. Becky has been reaching out to Messianic Jewish congregations, and I've been contacting various campus ministry organizations at Chicagoland colleges and universities.

The theme of this week has been emails. We've sent emails asking if we can interview people, emails asking about various organizations, emails requesting phone calls, emails requesting sit-down interviews...the list goes on. Between the two of us, Becky and I have sent over 125 emails in the past week.

The view from one of our windows (if you look closely you can see sailboats out on the lake)

With all those emails, it can be easy to start to feel like our research is a massive undertaking that we'll never be able to complete. That's why Becky and I are so thankful that we were able to move a couple of days ago into our permanent residence for the summer. We have a gorgeous view, and every morning when we wake up we're able to see the sunrise over Lake Michigan and people scurry about to and from work (we're currently watching a bridal party get ready for a wedding at the chapel next to the lake). It's been a good reminder for us of how much God cares for us and the city of Chicago. Seeing all the people wander about also keeps us motivated in our research because we know our results will be used to impact the lives of people all over the city, even the college orientation groups we see every day.

Our research is long and daunting, but even if just one person in this city is able to hear the gospel and follow Christ because of it, Becky and I know that all the emails will be more than worth it.

Please pray for the following:

• our motivation and dedication to our research
• that we would gain wisdom and insight on how to best continue our research
• the Holy Spirit would lead us to the right people to interview and share the gospel with
• that our research will be used to more strategically share the gospel with people in this city

Sending love from Sweet Home Chicago,

Sydney 

Resist the Devil

Team of the Day: P52 Chicago

Country of the Day: United States

Pray that team members would be submissive to God's work in their own lives so that they may stand against the devil. Pray for them to put on the armor of God as Paul refers to in his letter to the Ephesians.

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. James 4:7

Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. Ephesians 6:11

Chicago: Directionally Challenged

One of the main things we've learned this week is that I do not know the Chicago public transit system as well as I thought I did. Also, Siri is very bad with the transit system too. While Becky and I have had an interesting time getting lost, God has used that to do some amazing things!

For example, we had to go to our official orientation the other day to get details for our research project. Somehow, I got the address messed up, so I thought the meeting was over an hour away (it was actually only 10 minutes from where we were). So Becky and I made our way to the wrong bus stop to go in the total wrong direction, completely oblivious to our mistake. While we were waiting, a guy comes up and asks us something about the bus. We answer, but Martin strikes up a conversation and will not stop talking. He even sat next to us on the bus. Martin was about our age, so he and I were talking a lot about college and what we liked to do in Chicago. He asked what we did in our free time while at school, so I told him that Becky and I were both involved in local churches and campus ministries.

Then something that can only be attributed to God happened. Martin starts telling us about how he grew up in church but now is confused and has a lot of doubts about Christ. Becky was then able to share the gospel with him! He asked lots of questions, and it really seemed like the Holy Spirit was working in his heart. Martin even said he was going to find his Bible, start reading it, and potentially give church another try!

This whole experience really went to show us that God uses some of the strangest and most random circumstances to lead the lost closer to Him.

Please pray for the following:

• the Holy Spirit would continue to work in Martin's heart and he would accept Christ
• Martin's relationship with his 10-month-old daughter (KJ)
• God would continue to use unexpected situations to allow Becky and I to share the gospel
• I would learn how to use the Chicago public transit system without getting lost

Sending love from Sweet Home Chicago,

-Sydney

Meet the Team: Chicago!

Thank you so much for your prayers during our preparation for this summer! I'm Sydney, half of the Project 52 Chicago team. Becky and I are two southern gals who will be spending our summer sharing the love of Christ with people right here in North America. We are really looking forward to sharing the gospel with the people we meet, and we wanted to make sure you got to know us too!

Becky (right) and me with Chicago's beautiful skyline

Becky is the team leader for the summer. She loves both studying and playing music, and she really enjoys worshipping the Lord through singing.

I (Sydney) love all things related to culture, so I am so excited that people from every tribe, tongue, and nation will worship together in heaven one day. I also really enjoy writing, so you'll be hearing from me quite a bit this summer.

We made it to Chicago and are ready to begin our work. We will be in one of the most diverse zip codes in America, creating meaningful connections and sharing the gospel. We will also be helping local evangelical witnesses and workers gather information on the people groups represented in this cultural epicenter. Chicago is often considered the "forgotten city" when it comes to mission work, so we are glad to conduct research to hopefully help the workers here better understand the people groups.

Please pray for the following:

• our adjustment to the area
• that the Holy Spirit will work in the hearts of those we meet
• that we will use everything we have to make His name known throughout Chicago
• that God would give us wisdom and a strategy to conduct our research and share the gospel with such a diverse community

Sending love from Sweet Home Chicago,
-Sydney